Absolute Envy
by Ryurasuke
Summary: The young daughter of former Fuhrer, Roy Mustang, and his wife, Riza Hawkeye, is on a heroic journey of her own.She travels and meets many unique people, most prominently one sin she can't forget. Commissioned by one of my friends.M just to cover my butt
1. Chapter 1

**Deal with the first chapter please. I know that it's short, but it's just a setting piece. it sets up the whole scene for what's gonna happen. i should probably just have added it to chapter two...but i didn't... read/review if you like! Please! I love getting reviews! They're like little pieces of Christmas wrapped for other times of the year!**

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The world is torn into many factions, all battling for supremacy. A generation ago, Edward Elric sacrificed his ability to use alchemy to help a group of heroes defeat Hohenheim's doppelganger. The doppelganger's subordinates, representations of the seven greatest sins drawn directly from his flesh, were recreated by another, an unknown faction. The seven were reborn, with only slight differences in their personas, and are causing havoc with the country of Amestis. Other rebel groups are throwing their weight against the nation as well. The few remaining Ishballans are still in riot, and Amestris is still waging war against their neighboring lands. Several insurgent groups of Amestrian soldiers and Alchemists have taken root to try and change Amestris's war policies. But this time, there are no to rise up and defend the country. Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist and then newly risen Fuhrer, has now passed on to be replaced by a nearly tyrannical, immensely unprepared dictator. The Elric brothers and their remaining friends succeeded in living happy lives, not all that long, but happy. Now everybody's hopes for salvation rest on the previous Fuhrer's daughter. Without his fire, not her mother's sharp shooting, Rizu Mustang is just now becoming a full-fledged Alchemist. Unfortunately for everybody, she is nowhere near to becoming the alchemist expecting, hoping, and needing. What the whole country needs is an immensely powerful alchemist who can rise up and unite the nation. Rizu is barely seventeen and just come into her power. And she's late for her final alchemic exam… before the Fuhrer…


	2. Chapter 2

"Shit!" She was sprinting down the hallway outside her room. In her haste she had left her door open. She only realized it after she had rounded the corner, but she'd gone too far to turn around. "Double shit!" This became her mantra as she ran. Her maestros were going to be furious with her. And even worse, the Fuhrer was going to be late now because of her.

She was screwed. She'd be lucky if they even let her remain at the academy to retake it next year. She would probably be kicked out, and with both of her parents gone; she had nowhere to go. Not that the academy cared about that. They'd throw her out on her sorry little ass, she'd managed to piss off just about every one of the professors and the heads of the school. She'd been yelled at and punished so many times that she would've been expelled had she not been the former Fuhrer's daughter. This newest insult, direct to the Fuhrer himself, had to result in her immediate expulsion at the very least.

"Shit!" Twenty minutes late already and it was at least a twenty minute walk to the examination chamber. If she ran she might make it there in ten, but then she'd be winded and sweaty-not exactly the best impression to make. Nothing to do about it. She ran out the main doors to cut across the courtyard. Then there were the stairs. Eighty-four steps headed down to the Alchemic Chamber-a specially constructed room that could withstand the most volatile alchemy.

She did not make them create the chamber. She may have had a misfire with her flame alchemy, and she may not have been as good with fire as her father had been, but it wasn't her fault! She had only burned one person and he was fine. One week of intensive hospitalization and some slight scarring, but now he was perfectly fine. Well, he still didn't have his eyebrows back, but he made it work…kinda… It still wasn't her fault! She wasn't the only one who had volatile alchemic problems. Granted, she was the only one who had seventeen consecutive disasters under her belt, and granted, every other alchemist had made some progress away from their screw-ups. Granted as well, only the newest students, completely war-alchemic students, and her _had_ to do all of their alchemy in there. God! They wouldn't even let her light a candle outside of there. Just because she'd accidentally lit half of the National Library on fire during her first trial of that exercise. It still wasn't her fault!

"Shit!" Now she was starting to cry. "Double shit!" Why couldn't she be as powerful as her father? There wouldn't be a problem if she had the flames of Roy Mustang. Or the eye of her mother. If she was a sharpshooter like the great Riza Hawkeye she wouldn't even be in the Academy. "Triple shit!" Why wasn't she good enough for them! It wasn't her fault they wanted her to be something she wasn't! "Quadru-" She missed a step and plummeted face first down the staircase. She didn't fall far though. Before she could she slammed her head into a hard, muscled and only slightly yielding frame. Shit! She was falling into somebody!

The person, caught off balance, let out a rough cry as he was pushed backward and, taking a step into midair, fell down ahead of her. They both tumbled and fell down a full twenty stairs. Rizu could've sworn she'd heard a snap, like a bone's breaking, but in the chaos of the fall she couldn't be sure.

She finally came to a rest, rolling upright at the very base of the stairs. The ground underneath her was remarkable soft. A lot softer than she's thought it'd be. Then it dawned on her. It wasn't the entry stone to the chamber, she had landed on him!

She leapt up screaming at him, "Sorry! I'm so sorry!" Over and over she near begged him as she bent to help him up. Her face felt like it was on fire. She wasn't even able to meet his eyes, even to look at him was beyond her right now. Her face must've been redder than her father's fires. How could she have been so stupid?

"Look I'm really, really sorry, but I've got to go! Come back here at dusk and I promise I'll make it up to you!" She dashed around him and rushed to the Chamber. When she arrived, absolutely winded, she swore again, "Shit!" She was going so fast, she hadn't had time to find his name, or even what he's looked like. She whipped around to find him again, but he had moved on up the stairs out of her sight.

"Double shit!" She shouted out at the exact moment the door opened.

"Ah Miss Mustang, finally you choose to appear for your final evaluation. Just over half an hour late." He cocked an eyebrow as he looked from her to his watch. "I see that you still have a soldier's vocabulary."

"Triple shit," She muttered. Of course it would be him. Klendor Fixer. Her one professor who near-openly hated her. "Quadru-"

"Miss Mustang," He interrupted. "You are exactly thirty-seven minutes and fourteen seconds late for your evaluation. You realize that your tardiness will be reflected in your grade?"

Rizu nodded slowly, head down as she 'felt' the points being deducted from her grade. "Shit!" She needed those points. Now she could only score a maximum of a sixty-three. A thirteen-point margin of error? How was she going to pass this? She usually lost more than the fifty points allowed. This was going to be her worst grade ever.

"Excellent, follow me." He turned and headed into the Alchemic Chamber.

When they arrived, Rizu almost cried. They were all there! Everybody! All of her teachers, the school masters, even her friends and peers were there! "Shit, double shit, triple shit and damn!" She ranted under her breath. Now the points she did score would be cross-examined while her failed points were gone, already counted against her. Great, she was so screwed.

"Okay, Rizu, you can do this. Focus, concentrate, prepare, deep breaths, quick but sure, aggressive but reserved. You know how to do this. Just like Dad taught you." She was cheering for herself, it wasn't like anybody else would. Then she saw him. The Fuhrer. A large, blocky, immensely over-muscled titan of a man, the Fuhrer looked bored. _Well, small wonder, a half hour of sitting there doing nothing. _Her cheers died in her throat. He was the one she had to impress. Even should she fail, if he was impressed, he could change her grade just like that, even restore her deducted points from being tardy. All she had to do, was impress him. She just had to do as good as the great Full Metal Alchemist did almost fifty years ago….she was screwed.

"Rizu Mustang, this is your final evaluation before the Fuhrer…again…" Oh, just had to throw that in didn't he? Son of a bitch! "You have chosen to skip your ten minute preparation period. You accept the consequences of you actions?"

She nodded and inhaled sharply. As she exhaled slowly, she began to isolate the oxygen molecules in the air. There was water vapor, always the first to reveal itself to her. Carbon dioxide, nitrogen, both quickly found. Where was the damn oxygen?

Finally, she found it. Jeez, why couldn't water be flammable? Or her father's alchemy used on water somehow? But no, her teachers told her emphatically that she couldn't even start a fire, she shouldn't be pushing any boundaries. Pompous jackasses. Stupid logic, making her use genetic alchemy. She was supposed to use fire, heat, passionate and aggressive. She was the daughter of the Flame Alchemist and she couldn't even light a match.

She snapped her fingers. Today she had chosen to wear her father's last keepsake. His gloves. Embedded with all the necessary materials for fire alchemy, as well as an alchemic circle of its own, the gloves should augment her abilities enough to cover her own deficiencies and help her pass.

The glove warmed, the fibers sewn into it causing a spark to leap out into the waiting oxygen. The oxygen ignited, a great conflagration sucking even more air and oxygen into the blaze. The rush of flames empowered her; she did it! A waiting, ready, live fire, smoldering the air near her.

She took a deep breath, and that was her mistake.

The superheated air burned as she inhaled. Her lungs on fire, she staggered backward. The flames followed her, sweeping in a maelstrom around her body. She fell and curled in on herself as the flames swept ever closer. Her eyes began to water, _From the heat? _She began to sob earnestly as the flames grew closer and her death became more imminent. _Not from the heat then._

"ShitshitshitshitshitshitSHIT!" Her fire swept closer to her. She was going to die, the Flame Alchemist's daughter burned to death. She was going to be the laughingstock of the Academy.

And just like that, the flames were gone. "What-?" She looked around wildly. _Did I do that?_ Klendor walked toward her, smirking smugly at her tear-streaked face. Bastard.

"Miss Mustang, due to your utter lack of control with your own alchemy, in addition to your inability to harness it's power, the maximum grade you could hope for would be in the low thirties. Add to this your tardiness, thirty-seven points worth, you cannot score any points whatsoever." Klendor had a malicious grin on his face. "With a total final evaluation grade of under zero, I hereby fail you, from this test and the school in general. Do you understand?"

Rizu's eyes began to water again. "Shit!" She sobbed. Having a total emotional breakdown in front of almost all of the school, including all of her friends, was a bad idea, and horribly embarrassing. And it looked as if that was exactly what she was going to do. "Shit!" She started weeping…in the Alchemic Chamber… in front of the whole Academy… and the Fuhrer… "Double shit!"

She fell to her knees as her sobs grew larger. She didn't have the strength to stand anymore. She wiped her eyes and face with her hands, but immediately her eyes filled again. She couldn't stop and now she was going to be expelled. "Triple shit!"

Someone stood up, their footsteps echoing hollowly in the now silent room. The only sounds were her sobs and the footsteps steadily growing louder. She looked up. _Who would approach her now?_

A large male form blurred into her vision. "Stand up." The man ordered her gruffly. Great, she was going to be thrown out into the streets publicly. She tried to force her feet under her. The first try ended with her falling back onto her rump. The second try was no better, but she managed it on her third trial.

She tried one last time to clear her vision. It didn't help. She could still barely see. But whoever it was in front of her wasn't looking at her anymore. He was roaring at, in front of everybody, Klendor? He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? "You fool! Why should she be expulsed for not meeting your expectations? She learns what you teach, shouldn't you be the failure? It isn't after all, her fault that you cannot teach."

"I have tried with all of my considerable might to bring out her father's abilities in her. I cannot be blamed for her lack of talent." Klendor defended himself vehemently.

"Why are you so sure that she cannot reach her father's might? She is Rizu Mustang, not Roy Mustang. Why should she have to be? Are you so sure that her mother had nothing to do with her growth?"

"Of course not, but she is not an alchemist."

"What does that have to do with anything? Alchemy is ruled, not dictated, by alchemists. Are you a first year student? Do you only know the first law of alchemy? Is anything else beyond your comprehension?" Rizu's eyes were clearing.

She was about to identify him, but, before she could, he twisted around and thrust his arm toward her. A bright flash erupted and a long tongue of flame shot out to threaten her.

She panicked. The first thought she had was to create a backdraft, fight fire with fire. She reached out into the air, searching for the oxygen. The fire came too fast though; she input her energy into the first group of molecules to present itself to her. She used her fiery energy on a large amount of water vapor. She didn't even realize that she'd done it until well after she'd done it, far too late to do anything about it.

Great, now her impatience was going to kill her. "Shit!" She half-turned and covered her head with her arms. She didn't have enough time to do anything else. The flames were too close for a second try. They were so close that the heat was distorting the shape of the flames. She squeezed her eyes shut at the same time her knees gave out on her. She collapsed and cried out in fright.

The flames never touched her. Whoever it was must have called off the fire. Awesome, now she had embarrassed herself even more thoroughly. Well, she could forget impressing anybody in the room now. She almost wished that the fire had reached her; then it would only have been a single flaring instant, rather than this slow burning on her cheeks. In fact, that was the only heat she could feel. Any minute now everybody would begin laughing at her.

Minutes passed and nobody was laughing. _What?_ Everybody should've been laughing at her embarrassment. She turned to face the crowd and was shocked at her findings. Her view wasn't obstructed exactly, more distorted than anything; she was surrounded by a wall of ice!

"Shit!" She walked forward and rested her hands on the semi-transparent, blue-tinted wall. It didn't feel cold, in fact, it almost felt warm. That couldn't be; she may have failed out of the Academy, but even she knew that ice was definitely cold. She inhaled sharply and pulled her hands away. Her palms had melted little divots in the frozen wall. It _was_ ice! Her breath fogged as she exhaled. The air tasted crisp, clean, dry. Her skin prickled with the feel of it.

_What the hell? _Who the hell was an ice alchemist? She'd never even heard of one of those before. She lifted her hands to cover her burning cheeks. Her tears had frozen, gleaming lines running from her eyes to her chin. It really was cold! But she felt warm; how could it be cold enough to freeze her tears, but feel warm still the same?

The man was speaking now. His voice was muffled so badly by the ice that she couldn't make out what he was saying. She watched his distorted mouth move. If circumstances had been different, she would've giggled. She was too depressed by her recent twin failures to summon the jovial feelings though. The man turned around to face her.

"Oh shit," She whispered. _The Fuhrer!_ He'd taken a chance on her, offending Klendor, and now she'd completely failed. She'd embarrassed herself, and now the Fuhrer, in front of everybody. She hung her head in shame. She was so useless! She screamed in frustration, figuring that if she couldn't hear them, then they couldn't hear her. With her distraught emotions, she inadvertently loosed her alchemic might to coincide with her cry.

Her cry, filled with her power, shattered the ice with a huge detonation. She broke off her scream at the sharp cracking sound. Razor shards of ice were sent flying around the room. She worried for a moment about everybody's safety, but then she saw how many alchemists were rising to the challenge. Since her father's fame had upraised the art, fire alchemy was becoming more the rule than the exception. Then she saw the Fuhrer. She didn't know whether or not he would be able to use alchemy fast enough. She rushed to aid him but her muscles seemed frozen in place. Shit! She couldn't even cry out!

And the Fuhrer only stood there, expressionless face placid against the oncoming doom. The ice shards seemed to scream, shredding the air in their haste. The icy daggers reached out to dig through the Fuhrer's flesh.

Flesh which was no longer there. Rizu blinked owlishly for several seconds. One second he was there, about to be impaled, the next he wasn't. He hadn't dodged, he just wasn't there. The ice continued uninterrupted in its flight.

She whirled at the sound of footsteps behind her. The Fuhrer was walking slowly, imperiously, toward her. Around the room, the flame-wielding alchemists were returning to their seats among an echoing cry of joy and cheering. The Fuhrer reached her and held out a hand to aid her in rising. Rizu blushed, unable to do anything else. She couldn't really take his hand, could she? He was the Fuhrer! She wasn't allowed to do that!

She debated about the decision for a long time, but finally determined that she'd be embarrassing and insulting the both of them by refusing. She shyly rested just the tips of her fingers in the palm of his hand. She couldn't bring herself to have more flesh in contact with his. He clutched her fingers tightly, the slight grip still giving him enough leverage to lift her effortlessly to her feet. He pulled her completely from the ground, into the air. She stumbled as her feet hit the floor.

"Well, you all saw it, you were going to fail this prodigy?"

Rizu blinked stupidly at the Fuhrer. Prodigy? Who the hell was the prodigy? She asked as much of the Fuhrer. "Who's the prodigy?"

It was his turn to owl-blink. "Why, you are of course."

Back to her turn. Several seconds passed while she just stared at him. "What?" She shouted. The word echoed hollowly around the room.

The Fuhrer turned her to face him. He spoke slowly, as if he was speaking to a child. "The ice, the one that appeared and stopped my fire, was created by you. You created that ice. That was you and you alone. You are a prodigy in a relatively unexplored area of alchemy. I am hereby authorizing you as a state issued alchemist. You are the Absolute Alchemist. Any questions?"

Rizu was too stunned to react immediately. Seriously? She'd passed? "Shit," She whispered reverently. "Shit!" She'd just sworn in front of the Fuhrer. She blushed furiously as he started laughing.

After a while she couldn't contain it anymore. Finally she burst out laughing.


	3. Chapter 3

_What the hell were they talking about? Amestris was awesome! _Envy was having the time of his life. He's been here only one day and everything was turning out awesomely. Already he'd completed his mission, now he just had leisure time until his next one. And a date, with some cute girl he's run into. Literally. Not that he'd been hurt. He was a homunculus, a veritable god walking the planet. He was the pinnacle of alchemy, nothing could really harm him.

Then, after the girl had set the time for their date, he'd followed her, in disguise of course. Turned out she was taking the state alchemy registration exam. And she was not good. In fact, she may have been the worst he had ever seen. She almost incinerated herself as soon as she started! Then she fell down crying as the Fuhrer stalked toward her.

The Fuhrer? What the hell was he doing? He seemed to be making a fool out of some fat guy in a professor's robes.

Envy struggled hard to contain his laughter, he really did. It just didn't work. He sat in the eighteenth row, snickering and chuckling to himself. A few people looked suspiciously over at him, then, reassured, laughed themselves.

Everybody's, even Envy's, laughter died at what happened next.

The Fuhrer's fire shot out, easily ten times stronger than the conflagration the girl had unleashed. She couldn't even handle her own power, now she was to contend with one that was infinitely more powerful? She panicked, terror obvious on her face and posture. She thought she was going to die, and frankly, Envy couldn't imagine a method through which she could survive.

Yet she did. The fire smashed and flared out along a barely visible barricade.

"Haha, I told you." The Fuhrer gloated. "You were forcing her to do what she could not. You wanted her to be her father, she is not. She is her own and more unique than any of you invalids could imagine. She wields her father's flames through its opposite: ice." At his final word, the transparent wall broke and erupted outward to threaten the room.

Everyone escaped unharmed to see the Fuhrer pull Rizu to her feet. She was blushing and unable to meet his eyes. Envy felt a slight twinge of jealousy at the touch. He whispered silently at the Fuhrer, "Oh, no you don't. I'm the one who has the date."

As if he'd been heard, the Fuhrer turned and faced directly toward Envy. "I am hereby authorizing you a state-issued alchemist. You are the Absolute Alchemist." He turned back to Rizu. "Any questions?"

Then, for no reason whatsoever, both Rizu and the Fuhrer burst out laughing.

Envy stormed out before anybody had even gotten up to leave. Three hours until dusk, might as well check in on his mission. He headed back toward the prison where he had dropped off his _present_ earlier. He took a long meandering path through several alleyways at random.

When the prison came into view Envy shifted from his disguise. Effortlessly, he went from being a pot-bellied alchemic student to a pot-bellied middle aged prison guard. Who the man had actually been, he didn't really know or care. Lust had said that he was no problem anymore and Gluttony had grinned stupidly, as usual.

Not his problem, so he forgot about it. He wandered in through a side entrance, waited while they cleared him, and set off to find his target again. The same plan that _Father _had had; locate a deadly, psycho-killer alchemist, give him a Philosopher's Stone, and make sure he uses it. It didn't really work out last time, and Envy didn't have high hopes for this time either.

Whatever, not his problem. He continued to the isolation cells. Individual maniacs shut away from lesser maniacs. 'For their own good,' that way they couldn't harm anybody else, including themselves.

His target was shut away from any and all outside influence. A single slot was open through the door. Through there the guards would slide him his meals and he would pass the emptied trays back. Easy, simple, and stupid. All Envy had to do was slip the Philosopher's Stone into his mush. It was unidentifiable food, but it was perfect for Envy's purposes.

The man glanced up when Envy tapped his fingers against the glass. He grinned maniacally, a slight red glimmer between his teeth showing where he'd hidden the Stone. Envy glared at him and, whispering through the slot, reminded him of his orders. "Remember who you serve. We can always remove your right to the stone. You are allowed to use your initiative, but our word is law. If you break our law, we will break you. Remember, you are replaceable. Understood?"

The prisoner gave another manic grin and nodded swiftly. Envy thought seriously about his predicament for a moment. _Does he even understand a thing I'm saying?_

"Tonight you will escape from this prison. Once out, you will travel to the Fuhrer's Palace and report to the eastern door. Once there, you will be contacted by one of our agents. She will give you a code word: Chimera. You will respond with: Homunculus. Anything else will result in your demise. Got it?"

"Homunculus," The prisoner grumbled in his deep, gravelly voice.

"Sundown, escape code word, she'll give you your new orders then."

"Sundown," The prisoner agreed.

Envy turned and stalked down the hall to the exit. He hated this. The plan was going to fail, why bother with it in the first place? And he wasn't intelligent or adaptable at all. Of all the psychotic, murdering alchemists, they had to choose this dumbass. At least _Father _had a useful, _competent_ maniac.

He walked out the main gate and turned down the nearest alleyway. Three more turns and he dropped the latest disguise. He headed back toward the building he'd set up as his home.

Two hours had past. That left him only an hour until dusk-until his date. Now he only had one problem left to him.

"Whoever am I going to wear?"

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**I know, not as long as most of my chapters buuuuuuuuut... i don't really care! Read, review, comment, PM, whatever the hell you want to do! I don't really care! As always, if you suggest it, i may use it...i may not. don't bitch and moan because i didn't. and also remember, if you don't suggest it then how the hell am i suppose to know you want me to use it in a story?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, this chapter came out faster than i thought it would. Remember, i treat you like you have brains and don't need to be reminded that i don'[t own a work of fiction that's represented here as being a work of fiction written by another and of which i am only a fan of. Read/Review if you feel like it. I recommend reading first but you don't _have _to. just my recommendation.**

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Rizu had been in a daze for the past couple hours-had it really ben two whole hours? She could barely remember them. All she could remember was being dragger here and there by an ever-changing horde of military secretaries.

Now she stood outside the main gate to the Academy's main offices. In her hands she held the exquisitely crafted silver watch of a state alchemist. She fumbled it open. Ah! It was as beautiful as they claimed! Perfectly carved, fitted perfectly together, it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She fumbled around with it for several minutes until finally, regretting it already; she clipped the watch to its silver chain, then from there to her belt. She tucked it into the front of her skirt, deciding quickly that she needed to go home and change. Something with pockets, maybe one of her few pants or she could put on a jacket.

_Crap! _She did have to change! The guy she'd run into was going to be there in under an hour! How long did she still have? She'd been going through the bureaucracy, how long had she just been standing there? She pulled the watch her state alchemist's watch! _Eeeeee!_-out and checked the time. _Gah!_ She only had a half hour left to go home and change.

She took off at a run, sprinting hard back for her chambers in the dorm area. She'd have to move out of there, but that was a problem for tomorrow. For now she had to at least become presentable.

She ran into her room, kicked the door shut, and quickly undressed and moved to stand in front of her closet. _What to wear?_ She pulled out outfits and immediately threw most of them away. Dresses, skirts, blouses, her clothes began to create a pile up to her knees. She wasn't trying to make him fall in love with her-yet-no!-God! She didn't even know who he was! She was feeling good though, she kinda wanted to be bad. She finally settled on a fluid violet and blue dress that fell to just below her knees. Perfect! It was tight against her torso, clinging to her like a second skin and accentuating her curves.

She ran over to her dresser to decide on what makeup she wanted to wear. And accessories. And she only had fifteen minutes left until her da-not a date! Not yet at least. She didn't even know if she wanted it to be a date, she didn't know what he looked like! She shivered as she remembered her earlier contact. Hard, tense muscles layered over a lithe, slender frame. He had better have looks to match dammit! She'd had enough disappointment before, now she was a full-blown alchemist, the Absolute Alchemist! Her first date-not date-had better now screw up.

She grabbed her ruby lipstick, going for a sensual appeal, a subtle flirtation. No, _Absolute._ She was the Absolute Alchemist, Frost Incarnate. She giggled as she picked up the tube of light blue lipstick. Light blue lips and…her eyes wandered over the rest of her makeup. Hmmm...different but complementary, and still cold enough to represent her new title. Violet. That would be good, and maybe a powdery blue to make the two mesh without destroying the contrast. That would be good, blue lips and purple eyes, exotic.

Now for accessories. She ran her hands lightly over the piles of jewelry. She plucked a silver choker out, intricately carved with flowing designs. Then she had to roll over her collection of rings. Two metal bands, gold and silver, now adorned her ring and pinky fingers. She decided that they would be good additions. What else? What would complement her new look? Usually more reserved and definitely trying to compensate for her inabilities, she didn't have much that wasn't black of fire-focused. She had thirty rings centered around rubies and garnets, but only one even had a sapphire on it.

But_ that_ ring would be perfect. If only she could find it. As that thought came into her mind she found the ring. A massive silver ring, carved to look like a beautiful widespread flower. Twinkling slightly at its center lay a large, beautiful sapphire. The ring was so large that it would easily cover the largest knuckle of her right pointer finger-where she had decided to put it.

She stood, grabbing her favorite satchel. She didn't like purses; satchels were so much more convenient and better looking. It could carry all of her alchemic supplies and everything she could possible need during the night. She'd wear heels to improve her appeal, but she wasn't very good in them, any more than an inch or so and it became hazardous. She was too short; her balance messed up when she was lifted from her usual height.

Now she was ready. She slipped into a well-made pair of shoes with a bare minimum of heel. She stepped out into the hallway. She immediately turned around and headed back in. she'd forgotten the most important part. She grabbed the watch by the end of its chain.

She clipped the end of the chain to the ring set into the choker. She tucked the watch, and most of the chain, into the front of her dress; she was buxom enough that the watch didn't distort the dress's bounds. She gave one last look around the room before leaving again. _Now_ she was ready. She looked good, she was an alchemist-_the _Absolute Alchemist! - and she had money enough from her father's stipend to her to last until well after her alchemist's allowance became active. And it had only taken her twenty minutes. She still had ten minutes to get to the courtyard. She was actually going to be on time for once.

She headed out to her date-not a date-as the sun began to hit the horizon.

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**Might be awhile before i update this again. Bunch of stuff i need to do adn i want to do A Hunter's Heartbreak next, keep the stories even. Plus they're more responsive. i may change my mind if more people review. _May_ not _will,_ just saying. I like hearing people's opinions. you will not be ignored even if you say that you hate me. I'll probably even write a message back to you! Yay! I'll do it for either story though and please check out my other one, it comes highloy recommended. (From me of course, who did you expect?)**


	5. Chapter 5

She'd arrived precisely on time for once, wandering into the courtyard just as twilight began to claim the sky. Unfortunely, the courtyard was packed with people. She had no idea which one she was supposed to be meeting.

She wandered around the courtyard, waiting for someone to approach her. She may not have known who she'd run into, but they must've known who she was.

So she waited…and waited…

Over a half hour had passed since she'd arrived and the courtyard was essentially emptied. _Shit! _She'd been stood up! After a near-perfect day, it just had to end like this?

Her eyes began to water and she wondered if her alchemy might be able to do something about that…it was based of water after all. Probably not, she finally concluded. She stood up, eyes downcast and began to walk back to her dormitory. She'd finally settled to just go home, to stop embarrassing herself.

Her pace picked up as she hurried to get home before she actually began to cry in earnest. She kept her eyes on the ground as she rushed back to the sanctity of her dorm room.

She didn't need him…whoever he was… She'd been fine on her own before and she'd be fine now. And now, her own was a lot more than it was before.

Rizu ran into a hard yet yielding body. She rebounded off and lost her balance in the heels. She fell back onto her rear and looked up at who she'd run into.

A slender, handsome young man stared down at her. he wore a loose jacket and pants, only slightly formal, but it looked really good on him. The jacket was closed against the coming night's cold. His face was fair and framed by his long midnight hair. His eyes were sharp and clear purple orbs reflecting the limited light.

He held his hand out to her to help her up."We really need to stop meeting like this, eh?"

_He was the one she'd run into! Wow, talk about a great was to end a perfect day!_ Now she just needed to not screw it up. "Um, yeah,"

She mentally berated herself, _that's the best you have? That's how you don't screw up? _

"So you said you were gonna repay me for tackling me down the stairs? How?" The man asked, a smile crossed his features.

Rizu blushed and nodded, "Yeah, sorry about that. I thought we could go out to dinner; I'm paying, wherever you want. Money's no object for you tonight. Sound good?"

"What makes you think that money's an object any other day?" Rizu blushed, realizing the implications of what she'd said. Before she could correct herself, he laughed and continued. "I'm kidding, Sure, more than enough for a harmless tumble down the stairs. I'm new to the city though, so I don't know of any places to eat. Any ideas?"

Rizu nodded, smiling slightly. "I know just the place. It's a little expensive, but the food's so good that it's worth it. Remember, I'm buying, so feel free to spend money like water. I've been trying for seventeen years and have yet to be rid of it all yet."

The man smiled, his eyes twinkling as he said, "I may just be able to help you with that. Before we go any farther, I should introduce myself. My name is Pelleas." He held his hand out for her to shake.

Rizu shook his hand, then blushed when he bent to place a feather-light kiss on the back of her hand. "Uh, m-my name is Rizu Mustang." Her blush deepened. _Duh, of course he knew who she was!_ " So Mr. Pelleas, you got a last name to go with that?"

He contemplated that for a while. "Yeah, but it's been so long since I've used it, I'd feel weird. Maybe I'll let you know if tonight turns out well."

"Ok," Rizu determing that she was going to make sure that the night would turn out better th an perfect. "Shall we go?"

"Of course."

Rizu led him to the fanciest restaurant she could think of. The restaurant she chose was the finest in the city, probably in the whole nation. It employed a full dozen alchemists at any time, in addition to a full staff of one hundred and fifty workers. The restaurant was huge!

The alchemists were paid handsomely to work themselves ragged for the entertainment of the customers. At least they were compensated by effort. Hell, even the workers got paid exorbitantly. Even the scullery workers were paid at least what a soldier was.

Rizu waved at one of the alchemists, Erik. He was one of her friends who'd been lucky enough to land a job at such a restaurant.

Most alchemists were forced to join the military, not many others were willing to pay them decently. After the violent history of abuse by alchemists, people were still extremely "racist" towards alchemists. It was still a highly regarded career; people were just prejudiced against them now. Either way, alchemists could still make an immense salary compared to a normal worker.

Her friend waved back and ran over. Dozens of long, thin streamers of flames trailed behind him. Oos and ahs followed the display.

Rizu knew the trick, even if she couldn't do it herself. All that was necessary was to create a single molecule-thin band of oxygen and ignite it. As the oxygen burned away, you had only to replace a single molecule at a time. If someone were to try the streamer technique with more than the single molecule band, the oxygen would swiftly be depleted from the entire room and everybody would suffocate. It was a technique that required a lot of skill, not much power though.

"Erik!" Rizu exclaimed as she threw her arms around her friend's neck. "I still can't believe you work here now!"

"Yeah, well, my job's really just to keep the kids quiet." He blushed. "So?"

Rizu immediately knew what he was talking about. She lifted her hands, still wearing her father's gloves, and snapped. Her other hand she kept cupped and horded a large number of water vapor molecules within it. She formed the water into a match for her ring and superheated the air flowing throughout the water.

"Table for two," She said, slipping the frozen rose to him as she stepped past.

He stared down at the flower in his hand, shock obvious on his face. "What-How?"

He snapped out of it and rushed to catch up to her. "Ice? How did you learn to use ice? Is that even possible?"

"Obviously," Came the sarcastic reply.

He looked back down at her flower. It was slowly melting in his hands. "Right. Um, I have to get back to work, okay? Sorry." He rubbed his hands together, dropping the flower on the floor.

Above, Rizu could see the air stirring as he pulled oxygen from outside for a supreme display. Just a few hours before, such a display would've left her green with envy. Now though, it was only an instant of pain, but she was better than that. She was more unique than that…now…kinda…

Pelleas followed her deep into the restaurant. They were led to the more private dining areas. They were further seated so that they would be completely alone.

Above, the ceiling was littered with creatures made of pure fire. Lizards, wolves, dragons even, all battled across the ceiling, trying to dominate the others. Her friend would be exhausted after, but that was why he was paid so generously.

Rizu ordered an extremely expensive wine. The wine was rare and actually cost more than she had spent in the past few months.

Oh well, she was happy and she was splurging tonight. She was going to enjoy life tonight…and find out his last name. Money was not going to be an issue tonight.

And good thing too. Most of the items on the menu made diamonds look cheap. And she wasn't gonna be cheap with Pelleas.

She ended up ordering one of the most expensive items from the list. It had better be good enough to earn a price like that.

Pelleas ordered the same. It wasn't like he cared what he ate…or needed to eat anyway…But he did need to pretend for Rizu's sake. Hard to convince her that he was harmless if his identity was revealed.

After dinner was served, Rizu stated to delve his secrets, trying to find out about his life. "So you're new to the city?"

"Yeah." Pelleas hadn't touched his food yet. Realizing this, he swiftly took a bite. He matched his bites to alternate with hers.

"Why'd you come?" Rizu blushed at the forwardness of her question. "You don't need to answer if you don't want.

"It's not that big a deal, or secret. My employers," _Parents, _he thought bitterly about his makers.

They used the same ideas even, because that worked so well for _Father._ _Father, mother, brothers, siblings, _they made the homunculi refer to them like that. But what they didn't realize was that the homunculi who were the same, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, they knew who was really their _Father_. The other three had no clue,

He continued, "Sent me here to keep watch over their assets, and find ways for them to gather more.

"You might say I'm only here to prevent problem makers and insurgents from ruining my boss's plan."

"Let me guess," Rizu interjected, "Their plans are a big secret?"

"Of course, even I don't know them all."

"And you're high up the chain of command?"

Pelleas thought about that for a minute. "Respectably. It's kinda fluid, but I have quite a bit of influence among my peers.

"All right, enough about me. Tell me something about yourself."

"Me?" Rizu had been assuming that he knew all about her, she _was_ the daughter of the last Fuhrer. But if he really was new to the city, he may not have known that. "My father used to be the Fuhrer."

"_Used _to? What happened?" Pelleas cut her off. He didn't actually know anything about her. She wasn't part of his mission, so he hadn't even bothered to learn her name until she'd actually told him herself. Now she was telling him that she was the Fuhrer's daughter, which Fuhrer?

Rizu's face immediately turned pained and sullen. "My father was Roy Mustang. During his time as Fuhrer, he took ill. That job is evil, it caused his death and took my mother from me too."

"Your mother?"

"When my father took ill, my mother cared for him so much that I barely saw either of them, so much so that I actually saw less of them than random people who were walking the streets during one of his speeches." Her voice was bitter, but her face showed how much pain she was in.

She wiped at her eyes to stop the tears before they fell; it didn't work. "I'm sorry you have to see me like this."

Pelleas felt unusual at this point. Deep within him, he felt a deep longing, a sudden sadness over his soul, a lasting feeling of…Envy. He'd never felt what she was feeling right now, and he probably would never actually feel it. The loss of his Father had been a release, same with if his new _parents_ were suddenly gone. He _wanted_ what she was feeling. He _wanted_ the pain, the love, the family.

But unlike her, he was a homunculus. His family was a group of monsters that hated each other almost as much as the humans they were developed from.

He did not want to be a part of that anymore. He wanted to be human, or at least feel what a human did, be at least a little more human.

Right now, this girl, Rizu, daughter of Roy Mustang, was giving him a taste of what he really wanted, what he _yearned_ for. She was showing him her most tender emotions and he was gaining a taste of how they felt. He actually empathized with her slightly. No other human had ever done that before.

Perhaps she would not be just a night's distraction then. If she could give him a taste of humanity, then maybe he could give her more than a moment of his immortality.

But first he had to make her want him around. "No, I'm the one who's sorry. Making you remember such a painful time. God, I'm so stupid!"

"No, don't say that. You're not stupid. It's my fault. It was a long time ago, it shouldn't affect me this badly anymore."

"That's untrue. A devastating loss is still devastating. You should never forget it, or become immune to its effects. Eventually, as always, the pain will fade, but it will never disappear, nor should it. The pain will make you grow; it forces you to move beyond it and become stronger. All you have to do is never forget what caused you grow in the first place."

Rizu stared at Pelleas. Who'd have expected such a font of wisdom from such a normal seeming person? She was actually overcome with emotions at his infallible logic.

Before she could formulate a response, their dinner was ruined.

A courier from the Fuhrer ran into the private dining areas. "Rizu!" He shouted.

She whirled, hatred burning behind her eyes at the interruption to her date. "What?"

He flinched at the fury driven though that single word. "The Fuhrer demands that you report immediately to the high priority prison facilities."

Rizu's blood ran cold. The high priority prison facilities were where the most dangerous and ruthless criminals were harbored. The majority had been put there by her father.

She stood up and spoke to Pelleas. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Hopefully we'll meet again?"

Pelleas stood up as well. "I have a feeling that we'll be seeing more of each other than expected."

Rizu blushed and threw enough money on the table to cover the bill. "Thanks for understanding."

She turned and ran after the courier.

Pelleas followed soon after. He started chuckling on the way to the prison. His chuckles soon turned into full-bellied laughter as his body changed into that of one of the guards.

"I love Amestris!"

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**Okay, New Chapter! Yay! Remeber, I thrive off of reviews so more reviews will give me more incentive to drop games or reading and type more often! Yay! Not saying more incentive to write this story per se...but more review=more story. Like "more sake=more sexy!" So review so i'll have incentive to write a hunter's heartbreak faster to get back to this story, okay? Buuuuuuuut, i guess you don't have to review. It just was another week that i didn't type...your choice! BI!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry about the long wait. I know you're all faithfully waiting, like dogs. this chapter introduces some new characters, and several "dogs of the military." it may be a while before the next installment, i still have a lot of RL stuff i need to do...Bleh, i hate real work...**

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Rizu sprinted as fast as she could to the prisons. _Crap, something bad had to be happening._

An explosion rocked the night. She stopped momentarily, then picked her pace up to get to her destination even faster. She saw flames shoot into the sky from her destination. Someone was using fire alchemy! Or explosives, but either way, it was bad and she had to stop it.

She finally reached the prison, and what she saw there almost made her vomit. Directly in front of her were several corpses, burned horribly and maimed disgustingly. There were also at least a dozen military officers trying to subdue the cause.

As she watched, a figure silhouetted in flame lifted his hand. A stream of flame shot from his hand toward a group of soldiers. Just before making contact, the flames expanded and turned into a massive explosion, immediately killing all three.

She rushed over to them. As they came into view, she could tell already that it was a hopeless case, they were dead. One of them was missing his entire head; a scorch mark was all that was left of it.

She stopped in her tracks. _No, this couldn't be happening, _she thought frantically, _there weren't any battles-nobody died-in Central!_

The figure turned toward her. _Crap, he saw me!_

His hand lifted again. She panicked and threw her hands up to shield her. Her wild emotions again forced her energy into the air around her, luckily for her, she'd forgotten to remove her father's gloves before her date.

The explosion ruptured around her; the force of it cracking and shattered the ice wall she raised around her. The broken shards flew by, several of them cutting into her lightly.

He was attacking her! Nobody fought in Central! What the hell was wrong with this psychopath? She ran back, desperate to escape the danger. She fled into another, safer location.

One of the soldiers near her ran over to her. "Miss!" He called out. "You shouldn't be here; this is a very dangerous location. A prisoner escaped and is causing havoc in the area."

"I know," She replied calmly. "The Fuhrer summoned me here to assist you in containing the threat. How may I be of help?"

"I don't know, let me find the-" He never finished his statement. Another explosion tore him apart, starting in his chest and tearing him into multiple chunks of flesh.

Rizu cried out and stumbled back. "Dammit!" She shouted. She needed to calm down.

How the hell could she? People were dying all around her, in Central!

She needed to find the captain, or whoever the hell was in charge, and get them to restore some semblance of sanity to this tumult of chaos.

She looked around, lieutenants, colonels, where the hell was a freakin' captain when she needed him!

Finally, she located one, a colonel. But, he was across the plaza that the prisoner was currently in. How was she supposed to make it over to him without getting blown up?

"Grrrrrrr…" She growled. She couldn't think of this! How the hell was she supposed to think in this maelstrom of threats infusing the courtyard? How the hell was anybody able to?

Guess that's why colonels and the like got paid more.

She couldn't do this. How was she supposed to battle? All she'd done so far was create walls of ice. Was she seriously supposed to fight as well? Or stand by while people are dying?

"Shit!" She shouted. She rolled out from behind her cover and tried to regain her feet in the same motion.

It was successful. She sprinted for everything she was worth across the courtyard.

At one point she was only about ten feet away from the psychotic prisoner blowing things up.

At the exact moment she'd begun her run, the prisoner turned to face the opposite way, affording her a much longer window of opportunity to make it. She ran right by him while he was blowing another soldier into unrecognizable chunks.

She heard his screams clearly, as if he was right next to her. Tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over. _No!_ She scolded herself. _Now is definitely not the best place to start crying!_

Her stomach rolled with the cadence of his scream. She was going to throw up. A thought penetrated the chaos inside of her mind. If she threw up right then, she was dead. There wasn't any other possibility. If she was distracted for even a second, or stopped moving, she was definitely gonna die, she was barely ten-fifteen-twenty feet? She didn't know. All she knew was that she had to run, and she had to run fast.

She'd almost made it to the captain. As soon as she made it there, she knew, she would be safe, or at least as safe as she could be right now.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the infinitesimal motions that were never recognized. She twisted her head to check what it was.

_The prisoner!_ He was staring straight at her now. _Shit!_ He saw her, he knew what she was trying to do, and she was still in the open! Only five feet separated her from the bunker that the colonel was hunched down in, _five feet!_

Might as well be a mile. There was no way she would be able to avoid an attack from him. He had the perfect opportunity to kill her.

She dove as far as she could, hoping to throw his aim off even a little. Maybe she would get lucky and his attack would only maim her and not be fatal instantly. She hated the idea, but she could always get auto-mail replacements if she really needed to.

She saw the flame sweep toward her. _Great, _she thought, the one attack where he does a huge sweeping sheet of flame instead of a single, exploding point. She covered her head and face with her arms, not that it would help her much.

She could feel the heat of the flames as they closed the distance. She was going to die in less than ten seconds. _What the hell?_ She wasn't ready to die! She thought about throwing up a wall of ice to stop the sheet, then realized the futility of the act. There was no way ice would be able to stop a flame that hot; she could already feel the heat from it, and she was almost twenty feet away from it! She could see the fire through her closed eyes and her arms!

She calculated how long it would take for the fire to reach her. While she calculated when it would, she began to cry. She didn't want to die! She had just become someone she could be proud of, now she was going to die on her first day as an alchemist? So unfair!

When the flames were supposed to have incinerated her, she felt an intense surge of heat; her skin felt like it was being burned right from her bones!

But it wasn't. She could tell that much at least. Her body was still fine, everything present and accounted for. _What the hell?_

She peeked out through her arms. Why wasn't she dead right now? It didn't make any sense..

Standing right behind her was a black robed figure. He held one hand out toward the sheet of flame-no, not toward, _in the sheet of fire!_ The fire was being drawn, swiftly and steadily, into his open hand.

The air now smelled of sulfur, sulfur and brimstone. She could smell the charred flesh surrounding the courtyard. The sickly sweet odor infused her nostrils, tormenting her with the disgusting scent.

The man just stood there, flames rushing into his hand until, finally, all the fire had been absorbed. He closed his fist, smothering the remnants of the inferno.

Across the courtyard, Rizu could see another figure move out. Another ominous apparition to the battle, this time facing toward her so she could make out more details. This one was garbed in tattered black shorts and an equally torn plain black short-sleeved shirt. Over the bottom half of his face he wore what appeared to be a simple piece of black fabric.

He stepped toward the prisoner. His right arm rose into the air. It was wrapped in black bandages, adding an impressive amount to his melodramatic appearance.

The man's hand erupted into fire, a very tight fire that barely rose more than an inch around his hand. He thrust his hand toward the prisoner, who yelled out in fear as the orb approached him.

As the orb contacted the prisoner's body, it detonated into a massive explosion. What was left of the prisoner's body was launched into the air to fly clear over Rizu's head and continue in his flight for another twenty feet after.

Rizu just stared; she was unable to tear her gaze away. The man walked forward, moving toward the other black cloaked figure.

As he neared, Rizu tore her gaze from one and stared at the other. This one had saved her life, if he hadn't been there to protect her, she would be a pile of ash right now. Ash, like all of the soldiers littered the battlefield…

Rizu slowly crawled her way to her feet. The colonel ran by her, ignoring her completely, to go congratulate the heroes.

The two saviors saw him coming, glanced quickly at one another, and then took off at a run. The robed one's right arm, the one he had held to the fire, was cradled close to his body.

As they fled, Rizu took note of the most random facts about them. They both had black hair. The robed one's was long, extremely long; it was pulled back into a waist-length braid running down his back. The other's was shorter but wilder, long enough to cover his ears. He also wore plain black shoes in comparison to his partner, who was barefoot.

She ran over to meet with the colonel, who snapped at her, "You! What are you doing here, _civilian_?" He said the word with significant and obvious disgust.

She fumbled for her words for a moment before she remembered. She wasn't a civilian anymore! She pulled at the base of the chain connected to her choker. As she pulled the silver watch out, the colonel's expression changed immediately.

"Ah, an alchemist," He pondered this for a minute. "Did you just arrive here?"

RIzu was still unable to answer. She shook her head slightly to indicate she'd been here for a while already, enough to see the conclusion of the fight.

"What's the matter girl? Do you know how to speak?"

"Y-yes," She mumbled pathetically.

"What?" He shouted.

"Yessir!" She snapped. "I-I had arrived several m-minutes before the conclusion of the battle." She was proud, she'd only stuttered a few times during her answer.

"You've been here for that long?" The colonel was growing obviously angry. "Why the hell didn't you help out before that? Do you like seeing my soldiers get massacred? Huh? That bring some joy to you, you sicko?"

Rizu's eye began to water. It hadn't been her fault they'd died. She'd tried to get to him so he could put her to best use, she hadn't killed anybody. Why was he yelling at her?

He was a colonel though, what could she do? He outranked her. So she stood, hating him, hating the military, hating herself, hating everything.

The colonel cut off midsentence. Then he threw himself into a salute.

Rizu was startled at first, but recovered quickly. She whirled around and threw up a smart salute. Who she was saluting she had no idea as of yet, but the colonel outranked her and he had to salute.

The Fuhrer. Of course it was the Fuhrer. It had to be the freaking Fuhrer. Why did he have to have a hand in everything she'd been doing?

He stalked over to them, anger clear on his face. "You! Colonel!"

The colonel turned smartly to face him directly, "Yessir!"

"What do you think you're doing, yelling at this alchemist?"

"I was expressing my displeasure at her refusal to participate in the battle and perhaps rescue many of the soldiers currently lying dead, sir!" The colonel's face was angry, very angry. It was obvious that he cared for the dead soldiers.

The Fuhrer calmed and spoke softly to calm the colonel as well. "Colonel, this alchemist specializes in research. Not battle. I ordered her here in order for her to see what an alchemist can do when they specialize in battle and go rogue. She was to remain at a safe distance and _not intervene_ in any case, no matter what she saw. If she did intervene, it was her own choice. She was brought in as an observer only, you should be grateful for whatever aid she did lend you, and not critique her for what she didn't. Is that understood colonel?"

"Yes…sir…" The colonel growled out angrily. It was obvious how much he understood. But he had been ordered by the Fuhrer, so he would forgive, however reluctantly. He would not forget, nor would he allow this to pass unrecompensed.

The Fuhrer gestured for Rizu to follow him. She did so eagerly, wishing fervently to be anywhere but there.

As they walked, he engaged her in conversation. "So Absolute, what do you think of your first engagement with hostile forces?"

RIzu shivered. "That was terrible. All of the death, the danger, that guy was crazy, why do people volunteer to be soldiers?"

Thee Fuhrer chuckled softly. "They volunteer to shield others, their loved ones, the helpless, the incapable, from all of those things. You may not understand right now, but you will learn, eventually. Now you need to make a decision."

"What's that?"

"What type of alchemist you'll be cast as. You need to decide whether you want to continue with your research, and develop other safeguards for Amestris and better the country as a whole, or if you wish to be instated into the military as a major. Either way, you will receive a large monthly stipend to provide for you, as well as the same authority as a military major. In addition, in the military, as you progress, you will be able to be promoted. You cannot do this should you become a researcher. You may take some time if you wish in which you can make your decision."

"N-no. I want to help. However you think I can best help the country, that's what I want to do."

"Then why don't we allow you to join military actions. You'll remain a researcher, but you'll be a combat researcher. I think that your unique class of alchemy could be immensely beneficial on the front lines. You'll still do research, but we'll give you military training and the like. Report to my office tomorrow to meet your squad."

"Yessir!"

"Dismissed!" The Fuhrer turned as walked back to his office.

Rizu stood for a few moments in shock. She was going to be fighting against maniacs like that on a regular basis? What the hell was she thinking?

But she had to. She had to protect all of those who couldn't do it themselves. Like those too young to do it, or too old, or meek, or physically unable, or who just shouldn't have to see those kinds of things.

She didn't have a choice...

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**I think that if you're reading this section at the very end of the chapter, you've probably read it first. You could also let me know about how you feel about my writing. if you think i should do something different, you should review and let me know. if you don't you could still let me know. Remember people i like presents that come outside christmas time...all of my other ones only come then...(Impetulant pout) _Pwease?_**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm surprised i finished this as fast as i did. I like this chapter, but when you read this, remember to keep melodramatic ideology in your head. like instead of just turning, they turn with dramatic flair, the tails of their coats flaring out aroud them, that kind of thing. **

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The night passed uneventfully. So uneventful as a matter of fact, that Rizu had been unable to sleep properly. She kept jolting awake throughout the night, half-expecting a warrior to attack her while she slept.

Finally morning came though. She woke up yet again as the sun broke the horizon. She needed to sleep for several more hours before she'd feel fully rested.

Unfortunately, she wasn't going to be able to catch up on her sleep; she was going to report directly to the Fuhrer's office, as soon as she got changed.

Today, she dressed herself much more conservatively. She kept the jewelry, the rings and choker from the night before, and reapplied the same makeup. But today she was going to be assigned to a military squad, no fancy dresses.

She was going to wear something functional, useful.

She decided on tight black leggings and a matching, thick shirt. She threw on an thick, hard-leather, ankle length jacket for the immense pockets it held and to provide a small battier between her and an attack.

She was ready for this. She clipped the watch to her choker again-she remembered this time!-and headed for her door. On the way, she gathered together a few choice pieces of alchemic paraphernalia and deposited them into the pockets.

She had no idea what was going to happen today, but she was determined to be ready for it.

She headed out to the Fuhrer's office to see who she'd be teamed up with. She hoped they were half as good as the pair of alchemists she'd seen yesterday.

Rizu was only forced to wait a half hour before she was admitted into the Fuhrer's office. She couldn't believe that she'd been allowed in that quickly. Usually, it took longer than that before the request was even acknowledged.

She walked timidly into the Fuhrer's office. It was empty except for the Fuhrer and his large desk. There weren't even chairs in the room, except for the one for the Fuhrer. Obviously the room was not made for idle chatter.

She presented herself in the exact center of the room.

The Fuhrer finished with several parchments dealing with the military's disposition before he acknowledged her presence.

"Ah, good Rizu. You're getting an early start on today I see." He glanced over her shoulder. "Would you be so kind as to shut the door? This is to be a private meeting."

Rizu nodded an affirmative, turned, and closed the door firmly. When she turned around again, she was greeted with an intense surprise. The room now held four people, not just her and the Fuhrer,

The two alchemists from the day before had joined them somehow. She squeaked in surprise. _When did they get here? _She'd been facing the door and-she checked just to be sure, _nope_-the windows were still firmly locked. "What the hell? Where the hell? Wait, what?" Rizu couldn't formulate a proper response.

"Rizu, I would like for you meet your new companions. Gentlemen, if you would please introduce yourselves properly?"

"Of course Zapis." The robed one said.

Rizu was again startled. _He'd just called the Fuhrer by his actual name! Nobody did that! Who were these two that they would dare?_

The robed one stood up from his sear on one of the smaller desks on the side of the room. He didn't seem quite as imposing as he did the day before; in fact, he seemed weakened and injured. He lifted his left hand in greeting; his right hand was still kept close to his chest; it was now swathed in badages. "I am Colonel Canas."

Rizu waited a moment for him to tell her his last name. Before she could inquire, the other one spoke up.

"I am Brigadier General Ayako. I am the leader of Central command's top secret military group developed for high priority black operations." He said calmly, as if he wasn't revealing one of the country's largest secrets.

"And neither of you gentlemen have last names?" Rizu inquired. Why did it seem like nobody had a name anymore?

The robed one-Canas- deferred to his superior, who said, "We have them, we don't associate with them though. It's a protective measure. If someone should happen to learn of our identity, they would be able to use that against us, threaten people we know. So we choose to disassociate ourselves with everything from our previous lives. As soon as we joined this group, we became completely new people. Should you choose to join us, you will need to do so as well. Do you accept?"

Rizu thought for a moment. This was a big decision; she wouldn't be allowed to be seen with her old friends. She couldn't allow them to suffer because of her.

Finally, she nodded.

Ayako nodded, "Good, we'll gladly accept you into our ranks." He stepped forward to shake her hand. "As of right now, Rizu Mustang was fatally injured last night in the engagement with a deranged psychopathic prison escapee. You will be forced to create a new identity to prove this to any inquirers. From today on, you just happen to bear a remarkable resemblance to her. You may either choose to recreate a new name for yourself, or go without."

"I'll think on it," Rizu replied. She'd never been without a name before. She'd need to think long and hard about any potential new ones.

Canas joined into the conversation now. "Technically, we have the entire country's monetary backing. If you sign a check, it _will _be paid. But we don't usually do that, because it takes a while for it to be assessed. We usually just pay using our own, personal savings. The stipend that all alchemists receive is expanded for us, going from unbelievable to ungodly." He laughed. "Basically, you get what you want and have enough money for anything else. You already know about that kind of deal though right?"

He had to be referring to her money as the Fuhrer's daughter. "Well, um," She didn't want to seem pompous about it, but she did know what he meant. "I guess so…"

"Well, there you go, same kind of deal here. We're rich, you'll become rich, and you're now dead, just like us, got it?" Canas seemed like he didn't appreciate much ceremony. He didn't seem like he was one to go all out as far as respect went; his actions were on the verge of being down-right rude!

Ayako on the other hand, while he didn't seem to be strict in terms of respect-he put up with Canas's lack thereof after all-he also didn't seem to be quite as laid back as Canas was showing himself to be.

_This group is going to take some getting used to_, Rizu determined.

Ayako looked her over. "Nice choice of clothing," He said, referencing her idea of a military uniform.

She flushed and looked down at herself. Maybe it was a bit much, but it wasn't like she'd had a military uniform in her closet. And it wasn't like _they _could say anything! Canas was still dressed in a large, all concealing black robe-an actual robe! Like something from a history book! And the Brigadier General! He had on black shorts and a loose, baggy shirt that obviously had had its sleeves torn off! They wanted to suggest that her clothes were eccentric?

"I said that it was a nice choice, you picked out proper clothing if you're to join our group." He gestured at Canas and himself. "We prefer to stay in black, unless the operation calls us to be incognito. Black has a tendency to cause people to distort key information. Therefore, the less of you they see, the lower chance you have of being recognized later. Got it?"

Rizu nodded.

"Good," He said. "Then this should be easy, right Major Rizu?"

She nodded again.

He began to walk out of the room. He stopped just before the door, one hand on the knob. "One last thing okay? Do not call me 'sir.'"

"Um, what should I call you then?"

"I have a name, you know it right? Make use of it."

"O-ok. Um A-Ayako?"

"See? You've already got it down." He laughed. "Never fear asking me anything, the worst I'll do is blow you up!" He laughed again.

Rizu wasn't actually sure about it, but she thought that he was making a joke, so she laughed as well. "Well, Ayako, I was just wondering…"

"Yes?" He said to make her spit it out.

"Um, when I came into the room at first, neither of you were in here. I was just wondering…how did you do that?"

"Oh is that all? That's nothing." Ayako laughed. "We just threw together some visual hallucinations. We were standing right in front of you, you just couldn't see us. But neither could anybody else. Remember, we specialize in black operations, assassinations, rescues, high priority stuff. We need to stay hidden.

"The only reason we participated in that engagement with the prisoner last night was because, well because we happened to be there. Technically, we have license to participate in any military activity we happen upon. We have priority over others of our same rank.

"But back to your question, it's relatively simple, it'll be one of the first things we have to teach you. Got it?"

Rizu nodded again.

"Good." Ayako fished in his shirt for a moment. When he had found what he'd been looking for, he pulled his hand back out, trailing several black bandages. He pulled these over the lower part of his face.

Rizu turned, Canas lifted the hood to his robe and pulled it over his head, covering the braid running down his back. He held out a black mask to her. She tugged it into place, thinking for all the world, _Great, now I look like I belong in the western cities. Maybe a ghost town._

She blushed at that thought. _Really? Her brain needed to be straightened out._ She was actually thinking like that _now?_

Ayako waited until Rizu had the mask covering most of her face before he opened the door. Then he led the way into the hall.

For the most part, they were ignored. Rizu was surprised at this. She'd figured that three people dressed all in black, with hidden faces, would cause a riot with people. But no, they received only the slightest of glances from the people they passed.

Then she heard them. Running footsteps behind her, she turned just as the person shouted, "Rizu! Rizu Mustang! Where do you think you're going?" He laughed. "We still have to celebrate your graduation!"

Erik. He'd told her a long time ago that he would throw her a huge party when she became a licensed alchemist. But…Rizu Mustang, his friend, was not her. She could never be that person again.

Technically, she still could, she hadn't accept the commission yet, but she knew already, instinctively, that if she went with him, she wouldn't be able to go with them. So she faced him dead on.

She spoke calmly and assuredly. "I'm sorry, you must have me confused with someone else. I'm sorry that you didn't hear about this already, and that I have to be the one who breaks the news to you, but Rizu Mustang was killed in an engagement last night." Thinking quickly, and somewhat conceitedly (though she'd never admit it), she added, "She died among the other honored heroes from last night in subduing the escaped prisoner."

Then she left. She made sure to leave quickly, before he could manage to recover from the news and look her over again.

The three exited the building in silence. Canas and Ayako both knew what was going through Rizu's mind. It was easy to say that you were fine starting life over, but it was harder than it sounded.

Rizu turned and looked back just once at the place that had been her home for essentially her entire life. A single tear slid down her cheek as she turned to follow her new companions.

Rizu Mustang was now dead, for right now, she was only Rizu, like the others, she had only one name to be called by. She caught up quickly and joined the other's formation as they stalked out of the military headquarters to the trains.

Rizu Mustang may be dead, but this was just the start of her life…

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**Yeah...i like it, how bout you? (Chirp, chirp) is the cricket the only one with an opinion? JKJKJKJKJK lol, i thought it was funny. Rizu will probably get another last name, if you want to suggest some for her, Canas, adn Ayako, leave me a message/review and i'll take them into consideration...if you don't...well then i can't be blamed if they don't have your last name. i will not use name suggestions that are strictly perverted, don't go with their first name, or ones that i just plain don't like...i.e. Canas Longrod, Rizu Hussein, Ayako Smith...etc...you get my point right? So go ahead and suggest if you want!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright, new chapter, enjoy...I think I might go pass out, or smash my head against a wall (burns 150 calories per hour!). Ugh, I feel like so much crap right now!**

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Canas and Ayako led Rizu to their HQ. The HQ was actually kinda pathetic. Here they were bragging about how much money they had, how important they were and everything, and it turned out that their big secret base was almost a doghouse. It had a doghouse at least. The HQ was a simple two-story house in a respectable district of Central, not too poor, but not rich either.

The inside wasn't brag-worthy either. There wasn't much inside, just basic necessities and furniture. Couches, chairs, no electronics though. _Absolutely none_, she giggled at the pun.

But the room they led her to held a large assortment of books. Three huge bookcases blocked her view of the walls. The shelves were filled with several layers of books, most of them were so filled that the books were almost falling out of the cases.

Canas leaned back onto one of the couches in the room; he kept his injured hand against his chest and winced as he made contact between the two. It obviously still pained him.

Ayako walked to the desk in the back of the room. He leapt up to sit on the desk, centering himself in the middle before he began speaking.

"Alright," He started. "I suppose we should start with introductions. And I mean _real_ introductions, not just you name, we all already know each other's rank and name." Both he and Canas turned their gaze to her.

"Um, I am Rizu M-Rizu, only Rizu," She remembered that her name was now gone. "I am the Absolute Alchemist. I use my father's flames in order to create ice."

"Good, see? That wasn't so hard now was it?" Ayako's tone was slightly mocking. "Age?"

"Eighteen," She paused, "Almost."

"Almost?"

"I will be, in almost a year…"

"Any intimates? Close friends?" Ayako raised an eyebrow.

Rizu blushed. _What kind of question was that?_ His squad though, so she answered. "Not many, my closest friend was that boy I told off earlier. As far as intimacy…" She paused and her blush deepened.

"That answers that." Ayako chuckled. "Family? Any new boyfriends? Girlfriends?"

"My family died. As far as girlfriends go-um ewww!" She didn't judge, but that had always creeped her out. She blushed again thinking about boyfriends.

Could she count Pelleas? _Should _she_?_ What if he was asking so he knew who had to die? Because they would be able to identify her?

Were they allowed to do that? Was it even legal? For some reason, she doubted that they would be constrained by the law.

Besides could she really count Pelleas? They'd only met twice, once a collision, the other their date. They weren't exactly going out, nor were they actually in a relationship.

So she shook her head again, saying, "No, I don't have a boyfriend either right now."

"Good, not that you're not allowed to. It's just, remember that anybody you try anything with may be put at risk. Remember, officially and unofficially, we don't exist. We are the Fuhrer's Black Hand, his final option. That he only uses when necessary.

"Because of this, it is recommended that you don't become too close to any one person in any one area. We are on constant duty, so the Fuhrer can literally call upon us at all hours, without any warning."

Rizu thought for a moment before she nodded to show her acceptance of the fact.

Ayako continued, "Technically, we have the right to disobey or overrule any order that goes against our purpose, except for the Fuhrer's of course. We prefer not to use this option as it could lead to our revelation as a unit. Canas prefers to just disappear from the area, while I usually convince them of the error of their plans." He clapped his hands, "Alright, back to introductions."

Canas waved at her from his seat. "Normally, I'd stand up to shake your hand, but I doubt that you want to touch mine." He held up the charred, ragged remains of his right arm.

"Sorry," Rizu felt guilty about it.

"Why are you sorry?"

"If you hadn't had to protect me, your arm would still be okay."

"Don't worry about it. I was never smart enough to avoid harm anyway. It wasn't just you though. I would've still saved you if it had been, but don't take all the blame upon yourself. Behind you had been a squad of soldiers who were escorting a group of civilians out of the danger zone. I saved all of you, not just one person. Don't try to blame yourself."

Now Rizu felt even worse. She'd assumed he'd been saving her, but it turned out that he'd actually been saving a group of people she hadn't even known about.

"Don't feel bad. One of these days I'll end up killing myself trying to do everything and save everybody."

He chuckled. "Anyway, I'm Canas. My designation is the Frozen Heart Alchemist.

"I'm eighteen, actual age. My family accepts that I'm dead, they also accept the 'death benefits' checks I send them regularly to get by. My relations are unimportant within the current context. My arm was injured severely, and now one of those 'relations,' probably two actually, are going to severely injure me."

Ayako laughed, "You may want to inform them yourself, you know if they have to find out for themselves it'll be that much worse for you."

Canas sighed and rested back on the couch. "I'll get around to it."

"That's what you said last time, just before the threat. What was it?" He snapped in recognition, "Oh yeah, 'If you ever act with such stupidity again, I'll castrate you myself and force you to watch,' wasn't that it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Canas waved his warning away. "My question is, was it the spear skewering me, or the fact that I put off telling her pissed her off?"

Ayako joined his laugh. When they both calmed down enough, he spoke again, "I am head of this squad, Ayako. I am eighteen. My tag is the Crimson Lotus Alchemist. Usually the 'Lotus' part is left out though, leaving me as the Crimson Alchemist.

"Yes I know," He spoke quickly, seeing her react to his tag. "It's the same as the psychopath who helped Fuhrer Bradley in his quest. I'll tell you right now, I'm not nearly _that _crazy. My designation was chosen solely by the fact that I blow things up.

"Crimson for red, lotus for blossoming explosions. Nice little simple, but beautiful.

"Everybody in our little group keeps their own secrets. Canas here is out master of secrets, so it's good that you him. And of course, I'm in charge, so I should know everything. What you choose to tell the rest of our group is up to you."

"The rest?" Rizu had thought that there were just the two-now three- of them. "You mean there are more?"

"Yep. In all, counting you, there are seven of us. I'll call them down now so you can meet." He lifted his right arm.

The entire limb, from fingers to under his torn shirt, was wrapped in the same night-black bandages that he used to cover his face. On the back of the hand, marking a sharp contrast to the bandages, was a bright red, unique alchemic circle, unlike any she'd ever seen before.

He snapped and a vibrant light flared briefly. He set off a miniscule explosion and manipulated the air throughout the house to make the sound of the explosion a beacon to everybody within the house.

Canas swore, "She's not here right now right?"

"We should introduce everybody all at once." Ayako put on a completely false innocent look.

"But you just _had _tocall them all right now? Even _her_? You couldn't let me talk to her first?"

"Oops." Ayako didn't even try to look apologetic.

Before Canas could respond, footsteps came pounding down the stairs. A young man was the first into the room. He looked young; younger than both of the others; his hair was a pleasant shade of dirty blonde, messily topping his head. But his dark blue eyes were clear and focused, eyes of a true professional.

This spurred Rizu's mind, she never actually saw either of the other two's eyes. While the young man was seating himself, she looked cautiously at both.

The Brigadier General's eyes matched what he claimed to be able to do. A velvety crimson color, his eyes looked like they were an explosion waiting to go off.

Canas's eyes were mysteriously colored. The iris held very little color; they appeared to be blind! But he couldn't be could he? He was in the top squad in the military, they surely wouldn't let a blind person join, would they?

Upon closer inspection though, she realized her mistake, his eyes were a very soft violet color_. Curious, not very common._ Rizu had never believed the myths about people with purple eyes; they were just people like everybody else.

Canas turned and stared directly into her eyes. _Did he hear me? _Rizu thought irrationally. He's just a normal person! He can't read my mind!

Two other women followed the young-looking man into the room. They were both exotic in appearance.

One was tall and had short black hair, barely longer than Ayako's, dyed a vibrant red at the ends. She couldn't have been older than the others, but she appeared more peaceful than the men. The girl's skin tone was a very pleasant tanned; the tan was too smooth to be anything other than her natural skin tone.

Rizu made a quick check of her eye color while she could. Again, exotic. Her eyes were a smoldering black and red mesh that Rizu had never seen before. _I've really ended up with a strange group. _

The other girl was shorter, not quite as short as Rizu. As soon as she passed the threshold of the room, she went to sit on the new guy's lap, sprawling both over him and the couch they were seated on.

Her dark chestnut hair was tied up into a ponytail that travelled down her spine to end at mid-back. She appeared far more delicate than any of the others in the group.

Her skin was pale, so pale as to, at first glance, appear translucent. The others were all slim, but solidly so, they all moved with a sleek predatory grace. She moved gracefully, but not with a carnivore's grace like the others, she moved more like a ballroom dancer.

Rizu risked a quick glance at her eyes and had to do a double-take. Her eyes were completely normal! They were a nice bright green color, but when she shifted and the light hit them, flecks of gold glimmered within their depths.

"So, is this our newest addition?" The taller of the two asked. She had gone to join Ayako in his seat on the desk.

Ayako only nodded.

The girl looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Introductions?" Ayako nodded again.

Canas piped up. "Hey wait, where's Umiko?"

Ayako glanced at him. "Oh, didn't I tell you? She's out on a mission."

Canas smacked his forehead with his good hand, careful to keep from bumping his injury. Rizu felt a stab of guilt; she still blamed herself for harm coming to him.

The tall girl stood back up and walked to Rizu. She held her hand out for Rizu to shake. Rizu took it tentatively.

"Alright, see? We're all friends here," The girl spoke quietly, afraid to scare off the new girl. "My name's Megumi, I'm a colonel in our little group here. I'm eighteen, I dye my hair, but these are actually my natural eyes; I know, cool right?"

Rizu nodded.

"I deal with operational problems." She smiled as she said this. "Basically, if something goes wrong while we're on an op, I get to take care of it. I like it when things go wrong." Her words, combined with the smile, made Rizu rethink her first opinion. _This girl was scary!_

The male introduced himself next. "I'm Shinon, eighteen as well, I'm naturally these colors and I act as the sniper of our outfit." He spoke quickly, then went back to running his hands over the girl in his lap's body.

They all stared at the girl, but she was too busy enjoying his hands to participate in the introductions. She didn't even look like she knew they were there.

Ayako cleared his throat loudly to get her attention. It took him two tries.

She finally turned and looked at him. "What?" She blurted.

Ayako nodded his head at Rizu and said, "Introduce yourself."

"Fine," She sulked, "My name's Mist, I'm almost eighteen, another month and I will be, I work in a healing capacity. I'm the medic, and most of what I do is within the legal bounds."

Rizu started. _She was a medic!_ _Then why the hell wasn't she helping Canas with his injury?_

She was about to ask, but before she could Mist took the initiative to answer. "Canas doesn't like being tended to like he's an invalid." She sneered at him and stuck her tongue out.

"I can do it myself. I don't need to be taken care of, I'm fine on my own." Canas waved her help away.

She stuck her tongue back out and went back to enjoying Shinon's hands.

Ayako spoke back up. "There's only one other member in our little party. That'd be Umiko. Like most of us, she's eighteen. She deals with cover-ups, camouflage, and tactical insertions and extractions."

Rizu nodded her acknowledgement.

He continued, "Their titles are: The Hellfire Alchemist," He pointed at Megumi, "The Plasma Alchemist," Shinon, "The Pheonix Alchemist," Mist, "And Umiko, The Maelstrom Alchemist.

"Shinon and Umiko are both Lieutenant Colonels and Mist is a Major like you." Ayako explained their ranks.

Megumi spoke up. "So, what do you think of your new family?"

Rizu thought about it. _What did she think of them?_ They all seemed just this side of sanity. She spoke diplomatically, careful not to insult anyone. "I think that…it should at least be very interesting here."

The group broke up; Megumi leading Rizu upstairs into the free room she could now call hers. Down the hall, she could hear Shinon and Mist talking to each other in between kisses.

_I hope that they're an item. _Passed unbidden through her thoughts. It'd be awkward if they weren't.

She didn't have anything that she had brought with her; everything belonging to Rizu Mustang was sold after her death. Of course, the profits all went to her, so she had a nice tidy sum of money handy until her allowance by the state became active.

Around her, she could hear the hundreds of little noises that came from a occupied house. _Oh yes, things ought to be _very _interesting around here…_

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**Read/Review do whatever you like. I'm in a foul mood today. Sorry if my short temper offends any of you, don't take it out on the story. write me a mean pm or something, don't diss the story.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry everybody about the long wait between chapters but it's been hectic. I haven't forgotten y'all! Don't worry! I lost access to my Microsoft Word, then after I decided to submit to peer pressure and get openoffice, I lost internet, completely...but I'm kinda back at the moment, it might still be a while until the next and I'm gonna be starting college soon so...**

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It was getting close to night when Rizu heard a knock on her door. She opened the door and Ayako stepped in. he held a bag over his shoulder.

He handed the bag to her, saying, "Here are your clothes."

"I thought you said-" Rizu began as she opened up the bag. "Oh now I get it." The bag was filled with bound stacks of money. There was a very impressive sum of money resting easily in her hands.

"Wow," She whispered silently.

"I know, it's not that much at the moment, but soon your stipend from the Fuhrer will become active and the funds will really begin." Ayaka said.

Her eyes darted up to him, startled. He was waving this kind of money off as a joke? _How much did they get paid in this non-existent unit?_

Then she saw his smile. She didn't know if that meant it was a joke or whether he thought her reaction was funny, but she knew that she'd be making a reasonable salary just working for the military, maybe not as hefty as they used to be, but still more than enough to live on.

So the special forces should be making quite a bit more. Not that it mattered to her or anything, she would've taken the job if it didn't pay her. She wanted to help people and the Fuhrer had said that that was what this outfit did.

But this _was_ Amestris, and money made everything a little easier. In most cases, a _lot _easier.

"Thanks," She said as he turned to leave the room.

"Don't worry, it all becomes normal after a little while of adjustment. You'll get used to it." He said to make her feel better. For some odd reason, learning that this group and their craziness would eventually become normal to her really did make her feel better.

With her family gone, and no really close people to her, they all had seemed to avoid her like her lack of alchemy was contagious, this small group of strangers was fast becoming like a family to her. She longed to have people to rely on, and it was readily apparent that this group cared about each other. She only hoped that she would be able to integrate herself in their ways.

Such a close knit group, who weren't allowed to socialize outside of themselves, would obviously be leery of anybody trying to join them. Hopefully, joining their ranks would make it easier for her to become one of them. Well, even if they didn't accept her, at least she would be helping to do some good for her country.

Ayako left the room, calling out behind him, "Sleep well!"

Rizu had a feeling, she _knew_ impulsively that she would. The sounds of the house, and the neighborhood around it were soothing. There weren't many noises such as there were around the palace. It wasn't as large either. _Quaint,_ she thought. That was the perfect word to describe the building she found herself now in.

But the bed was soft, and warm, and she soon found herself drifting on soothing waves as her body and mind began to slowly shut down.

For some strange reason, she found it much easier to fall asleep here, away from the hedonism of the palace. The noise was more mundane than she was used to.

It was all like a drug, soothing her down into the oblivion of sleep...

* * *

The next day, Rizu awoke frightened. She didn't recognize anything around her. Where was all of her stuff? This wasn't her bed, the walls were different, she wasn't home! If she wasn't home, then where _was_ she?

It all came back in a revealing flash. She remembered the previous day in full. She was in her room, her _new _room.

She arched her back, reaching her hands high above her to stretch her sleep-tightened muscles.

That had been the best sleep she'd ever had! This house-the people in it, the whole neighborhood!-were just so much more pleasant, so _at ease_ that it was just more satisfying.

Rizu jumped as she heard a loud banging come toward her. Soon after she recognized the noise as running footsteps through the hallways next to her bedroom. Laughter pealed out, and she was able to recognize the voices as Shinon's and Mist's.

The laughter stopped, and Rizu jumped again as a voice she couldn't recognize lifted into a shout.

"You what!" The voice echoed, both literally and through all of the hearer's minds. It was feminine but strong. Rizu readily recognized the voice as being female, but it wasn't girly.

She jumped yet again at a knock on her door. Ayako's voice called through the wood.

"I assume that you're awake, wanna go meet the last member of our group?"

That girl was the last member of their group? Umiko? Rizu thought for a moment that she'd rather go meet the recreated sins.

Still she nodded, even though he couldn't see the motion, and got out of bed. She went to the closet without realizing it and frowned when she remembered that all of her clothes were gone.

_Guess I'm wearing this again,_ She thought, tugging on the neckline of the thick shirt. Alright, before she did anything else today, she was going to go shopping.

But first, she should meet with the last member of her new team. She slipped out of the room and headed to the stairwell. She heard the smack of flesh against flesh and jolted.

_Did somebody just get hit?_

Her question was answered as soon as she stepped into the archway to enter what she assumed was the living room. In any other house it would've been the living room, with all the electronics to dictate exactly what its purpose was.

But since the group didn't seem to have a single electronic device in the entire building she couldn't be sure. She hadn't checked out the kitchen, but she assumed some electronics were in there to help make the food.

Everybody was in the room, including another girl she hadn't met before; she assumed this was Umiko. The others were seated around in a multitude of couches and chairs, Mist yet again seating herself in Shinon's lap.

The only ones who weren't sitting were Canas and the new girl. She had her arm still outstretched from the swing that had left a harsh red mark across Canas's face.

"What the hell possessed you to be so stupid you dumbass dip-shitted idiot?" She shouted, inches from his face.

"Calm down Umiko." Canas replied, confirming Rizu's thoughts that this was the group's last member.

"Calm down, you want to calm the hell down! What the hell's gotten into your damn head? You almost killed yourself, and for what?"

"I did not almost kill myself, and if you keep up with that shouting you're going to wake up and probably frighten the newest member of us." Canas's eyes locked onto Rizu where she barely peeked out around the corner of the room. "Oops, too late."

Umiko followed his gaze and glared down at Rizu.

"So you're the one the Fuhrer assigned us?" She said disdainfully as she took in Rizu's petite and fragile form.

Umiko was impressive, a frightening specimen of a woman. Like most of the others in the group, she was slender, and she had the same predatory grace. Her body was completely without fat, even more so than the others.

But while she was quite similar to the others, she seemed more tense, a spring ready to explode at the slightest trigger. She was barely contained fury and rage, lashing out at anything that got too close.

In that moment Rizu saw exactly what made this team of highest operatives among the military just so deadly.

Canas was freedom, relaxed and seemingly without a care in the world, acting without foresight about the consequences.

Ayako's firm hand kept Canas in line. Ayako was the impulsive one, but he stayed within a set of bounds; he was like his explosions, deadly and random but never without a proper setting or fuse.

Mist appeared frail and soft in comparison. She was the medic, caring and sweet who made sure that the others were able to perform optimally.

Shinon was careless, a child. His attitude toward life was best compared to that of a child, he had fun doing nothing and everything.

Megumi was more impulsive than Ayako or Shinon, but she wasn't childish about it. She was like fire, directed, but uncontrollable.

And that left Umiko, who appeared to be a raging tempest, furious enough to make up for the less warring of her teammates.

The only question now was, where did Rizu fit into this? It was obvious that what the team so powerful was that they were so different. She didn't know a thing about most of their alchemy, but their personalities were wildly different. And each one had their own little slice of command, the area that they took charge in to better insure their allies survival.

With all of that already figured out before she joined them...what did that leave for her?

Rizu got a good look at Umiko and compared her to the rest of the group. Like Megumi, she was dark-skinned. At first glance, just based off of her skin tone, Rizu would've guessed that she was Ishballan. But with the rarity of the Ishballans and the definite dislike for alchemy, more so now than ever before in the history of the race, she doubted very much that anybody who could do alchemy would be Ishballan.

Also like Megumi, Umiko dyed her hair. At least, Rizu hoped she dyed her hair. Umiko's hair was a mesh of colors, ranging from red and blue at the tips on the sides, to a brown so dark it was almost black on the top of her head and a bluish green in the back.

Rizu could easily identify eight different general colors, but each color was surrounded by a multitude of different hues of itself. Her hair would put any rainbow to shame with its beauty.

Umiko kept her hair short, probably because it was easier to dye it that way. But the colors of her hair drew more attention to her golden eyes. Her irises seemed to glow with a predatory glee, the thrill of hunting prey.

And right now, that predatory gaze was focused directly upon Rizu. It was more than a little disconcerting.

"Um, yeah I guess..." She stuttered.

"'_Um, yeah I guess..._'" Umiko mocked. "What kind of alchemist is this? Is she even an alchemist? Doesn't seem like it! We don't need cannon fodder, the military supplies us with enough of that!"

"Hey!" Rizu shouted. "I am an alchemist! And there's no reason to be such a bitch! What gives you the right to say anything? I just met you and so far, I'm not impressed by a whiny little bitcher complaining about everything today!"

Rizu panted after her outburst. _Well, that could have gone better..._

Umiko seemed to fume, her cheeks started to flush in anger and her whole body was trembling. Then, completely out of nowhere, she burst into laughter. Once she started laughing, the other members of their group laughed too.

Umiko reached and wrapped Rizu in a big hug, saying, "Now that's the kind of attitude we need around here! Good job, I like you!" She turned to look at her commander, "Hey Ayako! I like her!" Turning back to Rizu and releasing her in the same movement, she continued. "I don't know if anybody's told you, but I'm Umiko the Maelstrom Alchemist. If you ever piss me off, I might decide to cut you, deeply." She finished smiling.

Rizu guessed that she was only joking so she giggled at the words, that is, until Umiko turned deadly serious in the next moment and warned her again. "If you don't believe me, ask around, when I'm angry, I'm not always sure what I'll decide to do, but somebody usually ends up hurt."

If Rizu had thought that any of the others were crazy, she just determined that she'd never met crazy. _This woman is INSANE!_

She laughed a little at the proclamation, then glanced around at the others of the group. They were all, with the exception of Mist who was once again enjoying Shinon's hands, nodding solemnly.

Again she spoke diplomatically, but this time to avoid setting of the bomb Umiko, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Great!" Umiko's entire demeanor changed at once from the psychopathic killer that had delivered the warning into a sweet, cheerful girl who was even now asking if anybody wanted breakfast.

Rizu waited for her to leave the room after everybody had said yes to breakfast before she asked, "What the hell?"

The others, even Mist this time, burst into laughter. Ayako was first to regain control of himself. "She takes a bit of getting used to that's for sure!"

Canas spoke next, "She's fine, it makes life more interesting."

Shinon's words followed, "Doesn't bother me any, I just stay the hell out of her way."

Megumi finished the routine, "She's pretty much harmless unless you're Canas."

That set them all off again.

Rizu turned her gaze at the robed figure.

When he was finally able to stop laughing he waved her concern away. "It's fine, she just doesn't like how I'll do stuff without thinking beforehand, as if she were one to say anything about that!" Everybody laughed again, including Umiko as she walked back in carrying a tray loaded up with plates of food.

Each of the plates was exactly the same, in fact, even using her highly trained alchemic power of observation to judge the quantity of the components of an object, Rizu was almost certain that each plate contained the exact same amount of food. Exactly.

Everybody reached for a plate, but Umiko smacked Shinon's hand. He yanked his hand back defensively.

Umiko glared at him and tole him quite firmly, 'That's Mist's plate."

_But they're all exactly the same!_ Rizu wanted to scream at her.

Shinon took it in stride and grabbed another plate. Apparently this one was his because no protest came from the very very special girl who had cooked it all.

Rizu waited for all but one of the plates to be taken before she edged forward to collect her own. The entire journey, she kept a careful eye on Umiko, to be sure that she wouldn't burst out against her as well.

She tentatively took a small bite of the eggs. It was like ambrosia! Rizu moaned in ecstasy as she chewed the food. _Damn! They didn't have to pay her, just let Umiko cook for her!_

She stopped chewing as she felt eyes on her. Everybody was staring at her, grinning.

Canas teased her, "Gee, I wonder if she likes it?"

All of the grins grew wider as she felt her face warm. "What? It's good!" She defended herself.

They all laughed and she felt that much closer to being one of them as she joined in...

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**Alright there's the next chapter for that. Sorry about that. I already explained it all before...now i just need to think of something for next chapter...if you have an idea pm me...or put it in a review...  
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	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry about the wait here people, but I have not forgotted y'all! Although I would like to see more reviews or pms, especially with ideas, I can't come up with all on my own, well I can, but when I have to do it, it's a slow process, hence the long wait! At least it's a long chapter for you.**

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After breakfast, Ayako stood to deliver orders. The orders consisted of only, "I have some paperwork to do, the rest of you, do as you wish."

Shinon chuckled and murmured softly to Mist, "I'll do who I wish."

This earned a glare from his companions, although he had thought himself quite clever. Mist thought so too.

Rizu laughed at their antics. With this group, it was impossible not to, they were like a group of children, odd children but children all the same.

She decided that she needed to get out of the building, and she _did_ need clothes, so it was time for _shopping!_ She idly wondered in any of the others would want to go shopping with her.

She immediately dismissed any of the guys, they probably wouldn't want to go anyway, and if they did, they'd spend the whole time imagining her in _their _choice of clothing.

Of the girls, she thought that Mist was having too much fun as it was with Shinon, and Umiko was… well, she decided that she didn't want to bother Umiko with such a little detail.

_I'm not afraid of her, I just don't want to waste her time._ Rizu defended herself mentally.

That only left Megumi, but of the three women, Megumi seemed the most approachable.

Rizu approached her before she left the room. "Hey Megumi?"

Megumi stopped in her tracks and turned to face Rizu. "What's up?"

Rizu stumbled over her words for a moment before she was able to ask, "Um, you wanna help me with something?"

"Ooo," Megumi was always interested in doing something new, it was her most childish feature, unlike most of the others, she didn't have very many. (In her own opinion.) "What is it?"

"Um, well, you know how I just joined the group right?" Rizu started slowly, she suddenly started to feel very foolish for thinking to have Megumi help her shop. _Oh well, too far in now…_ "Well, all my clothes were disposed of in some way."

"They were actually donated to less fortunate people," Megumi supplied helpfully.

"Oh well, that's good. But either way, I need to buy more, and I was wondering if… you were willing to… help me?" Rizu finished her statement in barely more than a squeak.

Megumi looked at her for a moment as if she had more to say. When nothing came, she laughed.

Rizu began to feel really stupid for having asked and started to apologize. "Yeah, okay I guess it was a silly question, sorry for bothering you." She started to walk away.

"No!" Megumi stopped her. "I wasn't laughing at you exactly. It's just, you know, you were so serious when you came to ask that I thought you needed help with, like a life-or-death situation.

"Of course I'll go shopping with you!" She agreed. "I love shopping! After all, I am a girl."

Umiko chose right then to walk around the corner from the kitchen where she had been cleaning dishes. "Who's going shopping?" She tipped her head to the side in interest.

"We are." Megumi said, already contemplating where she would take Rizu.

"Oh, c-can I come?" Umiko asked shyly.

Rizu was shocked that the psychotic, confident woman from earlier would be shy about asking now. It was a total and complete contradiction from her earlier persona. Umiko was enough to give anybody a swift headache, but Rizu found that she was, strangely, already enjoying having her around.

Megumi answered for the stunned Rizu. "Of course you can! Let's go find Mist and get her to come to, we'll have a day for just us girls, then maybe later we'll have a girl's night out!"

Rizu was surprised at how swiftly her idea had become not her own anymore. Obviously Megumi was used to making commands, testament to her increased rank.

They rounded up Mist, who actually needed little convincing as she loved to shop as much as the others, if not more. The three other girls each headed to their own rooms to change into more suitable clothing for a day of socializing while Rizu went back to her room to drop off her mask, which she had forgotten to remove from its place around her neck the night before.

When she headed back down, she was surprised to find that she wasn't the first to return. Umiko had gone to her own room and changed, _and_ returned! In the same amount of time it had taken her to drop off her mask.

"Wow!" She said breathlessly. "You change fast."

"I've had to learn to dress and undress rapidly before I joined this outfit; I guess it stuck with me." Umiko said solemnly, her eyes staring into the ground. If Rizu had had to guess, she'd have thought Umiko was being introspective, and she'd have been right.

Umiko was currently remembering the dark days of the time before she joined the Fuhrer's Black Hand. (We'll probably get to that later, but for now it's not too important.)

Rizu took the time to observe exactly what Umiko had changed into, and she was completely unprepared for Umiko's dress. Judging from what she knew about Umiko, she'd have guessed that she would wear something close-fitting and dangerous. As such, she wasn't in the least expecting the bright red-and-blue swirled sundress she had donned.

Megumi was next to appear, but _she _stayed true to form. She had chosen tight black leather pants that caught the light and emphasized her curves. She combined that with a matching corset that seemed so tight that Rizu had to wonder how she breathed in it. The whole outfit only worked to make her appear even more attractive than she already was.

Mist's appearance took longer than the other two, but they seemed used to it and were fine waiting for her.

Megumi commented on it, saying, "She's such a girl, taking forever to get ready."

Umiko found her comment hilarious and burst out laughing. Rizu tried not to, but with Umiko laughing so hard, she couldn't resist joining her humor.

And that's how Mist found them all when she came down the stairs, laughing at her, although she didn't know what they were laughing at. Mist had changed into a soft, white dress. It was a simple dress, lacking anything specific to make it appeal more, although it did cling to every one of her curves.

She had taken her hair out of its ponytail and let it fall down to frame her fair features. Everything added to create an image of her as a gentle angel.

"What are you all laughing at?" She asked softly.

Umiko answered before the others could say 'nothing.' "We're laughing at you silly."

If it had been anybody else, Mist might've gotten angry. She probably wouldn't have, she was too nice, but she would've taken offense to the comment. But since it was Umiko, and she had said it with such innocence and honesty, that Mist couldn't find it in her to do anything but laugh as well.

"Are we all ready to go?" Megumi said when they had all recovered from laughing.

"Yeah, let's go." The other three chorused, then looked quickly at one another and burst out laughing again.

They left the house soon after and headed into the actual city of Central to do their shopping.

Megumi immediately took the lead, being the only one of them who actively spent time browsing the shops. Rizu had always had people to go shop for her (the privilege of the rich). Mist only ever bothered to shop in one area, and Umiko didn't really shop around too much. She usually either made her clothes or had them specially made by one of a few of her friends.

So Megumi got to lead. "Let's see, where should we go first?" She muttered under her breath.

Somehow Umiko heard her and answered, "Shouldn't you be asking Rizu that?"

Megumi shushed her and continued with her lead. Rizu had thought Umiko would react harshly to being shushed, but Umiko appeared happy about it. She had a large smile on her face as she swayed down the street.

Rizu had no idea what to do about Umiko. _She got aggressive about who got which breakfast plate when they were all the same, but didn't care about getting shushed? _The girl was an enigma, a puzzle that seemed impossible to understand.

She was so focused on trying to figure the girl out that she wasn't paying attention to where she was being led. So she was completely taken by surprise when she looked up and saw that she had come to an area of the marketplace for unique items. Specifically foreign items from the east. From Xing.

"Wow," She said, awed by the immense beauty of the work.

"I have the same feeling every time I come here, and I'm here often." Megumi chuckled at Rizu's reaction.

"It's so beautiful!" Rizu's reaction was commented on, and the source of much humor to other people who happened upon it. Since a new trade route had been established through the desert to connect the two countries for merchandise at the very least, it had become more common to see select areas of Amestris (like this market) filled with foreign items.

But after Roy Mustang died, insurgent units of Xingese warriors had struck at the trade route, making it more difficult to have supplies go either way. Some Amestrians said it was good, that the taint was slowly seeping from the country, while others recognized how dangerous the lack of allies could be.

But there didn't seem to be any solution, none of the soldiers sent out to protect any caravans ever returned, nor did the caravans. The insurgents weren't picky about who they killed.

Even when troops of soldiers were sent out into the desert to hunt down the Xingese traitors, they either didn't return, or returned without encountering anybody.

Thus the desert was made essentially impassable, with warnings placed liberally to try to divert any attention anybody who was foolish enough to try. Still some tried, but they weren't usually ever found, let alone returning alive.

So the Xingese products that had already made it into the country were greatly increased in worth. Anybody who was anybody had at least one thing from Xing, and you could almost immediately tell how wealthy a family was by how many Xingese products could be found around their house.

Xingese travelers from before the roads became dangerous were made into very wealthy individuals as they sold everyday items from their culture to high bidders, then bought what they considered exotic items from Amestris.

Megumi ran over to one of the stalls and began conversing with the lady who was working there. The market stall had an assortment of Xingese robes and clothing, soft and loose to withstand the desert heat. The other girls followed her, not knowing where else to go.

The woman who was working the stall was a plump middle-aged Xingese woman, dressed in an assortment of jewelry over her traditional clothes.

Rizu was amazed when she heard Megumi. She was speaking to the woman in her own tongue as if she had been a native! The words flowed from her mouth naturally, without hesitation, without pause.

She turned and gestured to the three of them and said their names, still recognizable with the heavy accent she put on them. Then she turned back and introduced the woman, "Xiao-mei"

"Pleasure to meet you." She bowed. Her accent was so thick that it was hard to distinguish what she had said.

"You too?" Rizu said tentatively as she returned the bow.

Megumi began speaking to the woman again in her own tongue, and Rizu and the others in theirs. "She's not very good at our language, but she's trying to learn. She got cut off from Xing when she heard about all of the deaths and decided she didn't want to risk it. That was ten years ago or so."

Then Megumi went to speak to the woman again.

When she turned around, she waved at the stall behind her. "She says that any friend of mine is welcome here. She's very discerning in whom she lets buy from her. It took over a month before she allowed me to shop here, and she has a lot of sway with the other shopkeepers. If she turns you away, chances are that most of them will as well.

"But you're good to shop here now, as long as you're with me. I don't know if they'll remember you if you come back again without me." Megumi shrugged.

Rizu was unknowingly introduced as 'a girl who needed new clothes,' which the Xinigese merchants and Xiao-mei took to heart, immediately making numerous suggestions of their fine silks for her.

In moments, she had a large, still growing, pile of clothes loaded in her arms. She was forced into another stall that was better secured, where people went to try on the clothing before buying it.

The Xingese merchants were very trusting of their shoppers, nobody approved by Xiao-mei would ever steal; she somehow seemed to _know _this beforehand and never approved anybody who had ever stolen before. So the Xingese knew that Rizu would pay for all of her items before she left with any of them.

Rizu was happy. It appeared that these Xingese liked her enough to let her shop freely, something she never actually got to do in her old life. She found quickly that she loved shopping.

After trying on an outfit, she would step out of the stall and show her clothes off to the other girls with her. If they assented that the outfit was good, she put it off to the side; if they said it was bad, it went into another pile.

The entire time, Umiko was off grabbing more clothes to add into her pile to try, while Mist and Megumi stood and made judgment of her outfits.

After she found a dozen outfits that were both approved and that she liked, she went around to all of the stalls that the clothes came from and bought them. It barely made a dent in all of the money she currently had on hand, even with how much it cost to buy anything from Xing. So she went back and bought a few more that she'd liked, but one or both of the girls had disproved of.

It still didn't make a dent in her funds, but she felt good about being able to refuse advice, something that she had never been able to do while she was 'Roy Mustang's daughter.'

After that Megumi led them all on another adventure to another of the market areas, but this one had no open air stalls like the last. The Xingese market had been exclusively open-air; this next one was lined with shops along both sides of the streets, the only open air stalls here were beggars and their ilk.

Megumi drew them to another shop she frequented. It was a dark shop lit only by small candles placed frequently throughout it. The uppermost area of the shop was filled with a thin white smoke, courtesy of the candle lights.

Within the confines of the shop was a frightening assortment of clothing and accessory choices. It looked to be Megumi's sort of place, filled with black leather, dark colors, and silver metals.

Surprising Rizu, it wasn't Megumi who was most excited to be in the shop, it was Umiko. Umiko cried out in joy as she ran into the store, while Megumi restrained herself, although she wanted to do exactly as her less-restrained companion had done.

Mist seemed as if she thought the clothes here were foul, but intriguing. She trod lightly the entire time she was in the store, looking as if she were afraid that it would rub off on her. But she did go into the store and check out many of the items, mostly the jewelry though.

Megumi stole around the displays and slipped several pieces off of them, covering her arm with them. She was shopping for both herself and Rizu, making sure to get items that would interest both of them, and looked good.

Rizu was a little intimidated by this store. It was dark and imposed itself into her thoughts, whether she wanted it to or not. None of the clothes in here were ones that she would normally wear, but she supposed that she had to at least give them a chance.

She found that there were some things in the store that she wanted to at least try on, and after trying them on, she found that she really like several of them. These were added to the growing pile of clothes she'd purchased.

Umiko volunteered to carry her things once they'd begun to grow too heavy for her. Mist and Megumi looked astonished at her offer. Umiko glared at them momentarily before explaining, "What? She's small! I'm being helpful!"

The girls all burst into a round of laughter, even Rizu after a moment. It was almost impossible to be angry at anything Umiko said-she was just so earnest and honest.

Megumi led the way through several more stores in rapid sequence. By the end of their spree, Umiko was loaded beyond herself, with Rizu, Mist, and Megumi all loaded up with a decent amount of each their own. Not all of the clothes were Rizu's, each of the girls had done shopping of their own.

Between the four of them, they had enough clothes to dress themselves for a month without ever wearing the same thing twice.

The four headed back to the house to drop off of all of their purchases, as well as change, before they headed out to an extravagant dinner. Without any of the men. Just an amazing night out for the girls...

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** If you have logical, sequencial ideas for the next portion, let me know and the chapters will come faster! This next chapter I have an idea for, but still drop me any you come up with and I'll see what I can do to incorporate it into what I have!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright, new chapter here, was waiting on details for character designs, i should not rely on others to make characters, cause it takes forever for them to get back to me.**

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Envy was wandering around Central. He wasn't doing anything particularly important, just enjoying the mood of the crowds around him. Panicked excitement following the devastation that the convict had caused two days before was still flooding the air. It was pretty much all that people were able to talk about.

Not that he could blame them. Central hadn't had a real problem in a long time, long enough for children born after it to have grown up fully, like Rizu among others.

So it was alright for the people to be a little shook up. But this travelling in groups thing was a little annoying for him to make his way through. Rather than just being able to walk clear through the streets, he was forced to use his thin, agile body to slip into the gaps made in the crowds as they bustled amongst themselves.

He was infinitely more agile than the humans in the lot. He was able to slide through them like a ghost, the only people who touched him were the ones he allowed to. He couldn't avoid all contact, or someone would see his supernatural speed and agility and freak out.

People were a lot more cautious about unknowns after the insurrection begun by Father. The original Father, not this new incarnation. It had been a lot worse immediately after, but it was still pretty bad.

Envy was still lost in his thoughts when he stumbled into a child who looked like he'd just passed puberty. Here he was, able to avoid hundreds of people without effort, and then he got bumped by a kid? He was forced to laugh at the occurrence.

Despite it all, he was honestly surprised. Nobody had ever touched him when he didn't want to be touched, how was some kid able to? Unless he was trying to?

Envy reached into his pocket and found that his wallet was missing.

He turned and began to chase after the kid. He had to admit, it was an ingenious idea for the kid. No normal human would ever be able to keep up with him for long in this crowd, especially an adult. But Envy wasn't a normal human. He was a homunculus.

So keeping up with the child wasn't the hardest task he'd ever accomplished.

When he finally caught up, the market around him had altered drastically. He grabbed the kid's arm and turned him around. He held his hand out, palm up for the child to give his wallet back.

The kid looked angry at the loss of his mark, but he relented and gave it back. Envy stood back up to his full height, still holding the kid's arm, and smiled cruelly.

"You have no idea how much trouble you've just gotten yourself into brat." He chuckled sadistically. He was Envy, of all of the homunculi, he hated humans above all other creation. So when he found a justifiable reason for being cruel to them, it was like a beautiful present.

"Aw, mister, I didn't mean no harm you know?" The kid said in a thick drawl.

Envy laughed. "As if I care." His voice was growing coarse and ragged. The very sound of it was harsh to the ear. "Notice that you've run from the crowd. I let you do that so we're all alone now."

Envy swept his arm around him to gesture at the blank empty alleyway around them.

The kid started to struggle furiously to escape. That voice set him off, it just sounded wrong, like a bed of nails. "Please sir, I promise I won't do it no more!" Tears filled his eyes.

Envy, the truest sadist of the homunculi and their parents, was truly enjoying the sight. He grabbed the kid by the elbow, still keeping his grip firm on the boy's wrist and simply pressed it as hard as he could in both places.

Normally that couldn't do too much damage to someone, but with his homunculus strength, it was a simple task to crush the boy's bones. He could've done it quickly and turned both areas to dust with no trouble whatsoever, but where was the fun in that?

He wanted to see the boy cry out, watch the tears. He wasn't exacting punishment after all, he was torturing the kid.

With a sickening pop, the bones broke.

Envy next punched the kid in the stomach, slamming him against the wall. He continued pressing his hand in, curling his fingers up under the boy's ribs and exerted a slight pressure to pull them out.

The teen was in so much pain that he couldn't make any form of articulation. He could only gasp helplessly in horror.

But the boy was in luck, for just before Envy tore back harshly to expose his innards to the open air, Envy's eye caught something much more appealing.

"Rizu?" He said softly, entranced at seeing her dressed in a fine silver gown made of fine Xingese silk. He looked down at the boy and pulled his fingers out, chuckling again. "You're in luck, you're a good boy." He said softly, patting the boy on the cheek.

The boy flinched from the motion, then flinched again as Envy dropped something into his lap.

Envy also dropped his second wallet into the boy's lap. He didn't need the money, could care less what happened to it, and the boy had done something useful for him.

Now the boy could only gape in wonder at the man now walking away. The boy curled up, sobbing weakly in pain.

Envy walked off into the Xingese marketplace to watch Rizu...

Envy was stopped soon enough by a big burly man who grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Envy tried to shrug him off but he said something indecipherable, in his own tongue. Envy could understand Xingese well enough, but he spoke too quickly for him to keep up.

"He doesn't like you friend." Another Xingese man said, this one looking like a rodent. "And frankly, I don't blame him. I don't like you much either. And neither does Xiao-mei, and without her permission, outsiders ain't allowed in here." He said.

"I don't mean anything bad, just calm down." Envy said aggressively.

The big man said something else in his native tongue, but Envy couldn't understand him. The little one explained. "He says nobody gets in without Xiao-mei's approval. And it's true. You'll never be able to buy from here without seeing her first."

"Fine," Envy said, jerking his arm from the Xing man's grasp. "I'm going." He held his arms up in the universal sign for surrender. Then he backed away to duck behind an empty stand quickly. As soon as he was out of sight, he changed forms and widened his eyes, turned his hair from its deep dark green into a black and lengthening it out into a long ponytail down his back.

In seconds he'd turned from his newest favored form into a Xingese man dressed in formal robes.

He didn't like it. He liked his loose, wild hair, which was longer than in his old form. Where it used to come down to his mid-back or so, but now with its increased length it came down to around his waist.

He had also added a great amount of height to his new body. Enough that he was no longer easily recognizable for his height, where before, he barely topped Edward Elric's small almost five foot body, now he was a good half foot taller.

He kept his eyes the same, the violet coloration was enough to easily intimidate many opponents. There was some lore about it that scared people. Whatever, it mattered not to him.

One new addition he did like was the suit. Although it was slightly less formfitting than his last outfit, it still hugged his body. It also made him much more charismatic.

And so he was always reluctant to change forms now, preferring his new usual. But he wanted into this area, so he'd suffer through.

The guards didn't even notice him as he walked by.

The guards may not have noticed him, nor did it seem like any customers or shopkeepers did either, but one old woman did. She was staring intently at him. So intent, it was actually kinda scary. Envy wished she would stop.

But stare though she did, she didn't say anything to give him away. Xiao-mei might not have known who he was, but she did know that she had _not_ approved him to come in. And so she would make sure that he did not purchase anything. Other than that, she didn't really care.

Envy stalked Rizu and her companions through the market for several hours, amazing that they could need as many clothes as they seemed to be carrying. During that time, he changed forms many times, quite frequently as a matter of fact. He just borrowed the bodies of people he passed while walking.

Finally the girls decided to head back. Envy chuckled and changed forms yet again, this time to a cat. Women loved cats, so if they spied him, they'd pass it off as nothing. Plus cats were quite known for their stalking, so it wouldn't seem weird if he followed them for some time.

It was harder to keep up with them as a cat, but he thought his methods justified when all of a sudden the crazy-haired member of their party whipped around.

"Umiko? What is it?" The brunette asked.

Rizu seemed not to really care about Umiko's freaking out, but when she saw that the others were taking it quite seriously, she did too.

"We're being followed." She said ominously.

The others all started to search for whomever was following them. Envy didn't try to hide himself, it would look suspicious. So it was that the brunette found him first.

"Hey, Umiko!" She called, "Found your stalker!" She devolved into a fit of giggling.

Umiko came over to Envy and, weirdly, began to smell him.

Rizu asked the question floating around Envy's mind. "What the hell is she doing? Trying to smell if he's really a cat? Can she do that?"

At this point Envy grew concerned. _What if she really could? His cover would be blown. _It wasn't like she could actually kill him, but if they attacked, he would need to transform in order to flee, and it would be obvious that the homunculus Envy was in Central.

"That's silly." Umiko answered. "How would I know what a cat impersonator smells like? I'm seeing if he _acts_ like a cat.

Envy understood know. A non-real cat would act just like he was now. By being shocked and confused. A regular cat would probably ignore her insanity. He gave a soft, "Mreow?" And then slapped his paw softly against her cheek.

She broke out into a fit of giggling. Envy knew it, women loved cats; even insane women did.

"He checks out!" She cleared Envy.

Megumi gave him a tight squeeze and then let him go. "Bye-bye kitty-san!" She called out as they began walking off.

Envy gave a sigh of relief, then realized how funny that must look from the outside, a cat sighing?

So he shifted into a bird, specifically a hawk. Something that would allow him to soar high above the girls, where they couldn't see him, but he could still see them.

He followed them until they arrived back at their house, where he soared down and perched on the sill to a window which appeared to be looking into the living room. Envy couldn't see anybody within the room.

But he was in for a very pleasant surprise. As he was looking into the room, a robed man walked in. It took Envy a minute, but he finally recognized him. He didn't know his name, but this robed man was infamous with Envy's parents.

He and his squad, led by the infamous red-eyed man, had caused untold amounts of torment and chaos with his parent's plans. Not that Envy really cared. Their plans meant almost nothing to him.


	12. Chapter 12

Envy finally flew away. He didn't go far though. He wanted to 'reacquaint' himself with Rizu, really get to know her better. After that, he'd have a great opportunity to strike at the entire group of annoying pests.

He landed in a small clearing nearby, in the midst of a forest and began plotting. He shifted into his normal form to think over what he'd seen.

He'd definitely seen two members of the group, the two most important and dangerous ones. The house wasn't too large, but it was enough to hold the rest of the group that Envy had seen. Nobody was sure who or even how many people were on the team, but that house gave Envy a starting point.

This would show the other homunculi. He was the best, they just didn't realize it yet. Now he had only to figure out what Rizu had to do with them.

So he shifted into a hawk and flew over the house, circling and watching for any sign of movement. It wasn't long, no more than an hour, before the group of girls left the building again, heading into the city.

Envy followed after them, keeping a safe and secure height over the group.

He kept up with his targets every step of the way and finally slew down farther. He landed and shifted.

He'd seen their target, actually, he was quite surprised by the target they were headed to. Rizu was what? 16? 17? Should she really be going to a drinking hall?

It mattered not to him though. If she were only 12 he couldn't care if she got drunk. What mattered was his being able to abuse what relationship they'd developed. And luckily for him, it looked like just being able to recognize her was turning out as a benefit.

He slipped into the club ahead of the group. He bought himself a drink and swallowed it all in one large gulp. It was a lot longer than he had expected before the girls entered.

For a moment, he was worried that he'd misjudged their destination and lost the trail of his targets. But then they walked in and he was stunned into silence by their dress. He hadn't really looked closely as he followed them, so he hadn't gotten the full effect of their clothes coupled with the natural beauty until this moment.

But now, in the club, there was nothing to dull the sensation. They were each dressed in fabulous gowns of differing styles and colors. But each one complimented the others so that their gathered beauties were much greater than any of them could look on their own. And it was Rizu who formed the center of it all.

The brunette was dressed in a bright red, loose dress that drifted in the air whenever somebody passed by. The black and red haired one was dressed in such a manner as to accentuate her unique color. A storm of black and red rode a whirlpool over her dress. Giant circles of the colors spun along her body, and when she moved it appeared as if she were on fire with flames direct from the abyss.

The last of them but Rizu, the one with the myriad of colors for her hair. _Yumiko was it?_ Envy thought, trying to remember what name they'd used for her earlier when she smelled him. Her dress intrigued him most of all. Despite the crazy assortment of color showing itself in her hair, her dress was really simple. It was a tight black dress that barely fell down far enough to be decent. It ended just touching at her mid-thigh, giving a lot of flesh for everybody to look at.

None of the girls wore any type of stocking, leaving their the smooth toned flesh of their legs revealed. Except for Rizu.

Rizu's dress was fashioned at the top like a corset, tied tight to accentuate her curves. But towards the bottom it loosened and flowed freely like water down to its end. It ended like many flirtatious Xingese dresses, with one side ending near the hip, while on the other ending clsoer to the ground. This one ended right near her calf.

Envy just stopped what he was doing and stared at them. Rizu's dress was made to represent her newfound confidence, it had to be custom made.

Every one of the darker colors was there, from bright cheerful blue near her neckline, to a deep, dark sultry violet at the base of the dress's tail.

Adorning her right pointer finger was the ring again. A beautifully crafted silver rose with a sapphire center. She wore no other jewelry, allowing her natural beauty to shine through.

Envy had to admit, the effect worked. He found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her, and when he finally did, he found that many others in the club had fallen under the same spell. Envy felt a wellspring of jealousy rise up in his core. This was his Rizu, nobody else's.

He let the girls mingle for a while, long enough for the crowd to lose interest. When he had figured that most people were no longer interested in the group, he made his move.

The other girls were busy dancing and mingling, but Rizu had disdained doing such. She was seated comfortably in a chair off to the side, sipping at her drink. She'd already spurned at least three advances by other men that he'd seen. Hopefully his wouldn't meet the same fate.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked with a wide grin.

"Actually it is." Rizu responded automatically before actually turning to see who it was. "Sorry to-" She stopped and broke into a great grin. "Pelleas? What are you doing here?" Her immediate flush told him more than could be expected. Not least of all the fact that she enjoyed his company.

The most important detail he was able to figure out was the fact that she wasn't supposed to know him any longer. It was disappointing, but he kept his focus. Too late for her to go back to a time before she recognized him. She was stuck now.

"Did I do something wrong?" Envy asked innocently.

"N-no! I just forgot something from earlier. Please, take a seat." She gestured to the group of chairs. It was too late to bother trying to cover up who she was at this point. She'd already blown her cover, how stupid could you get?

"So how have you been? I know it's only been a couple days, but you never know. A world could change in a couple days." Envy asked simply. He didn't want to give away too much. He didn't know how far he could push her trust before she got suspicious.

"You have no idea how accurate that statement is." Rizu said with a sigh, thinking back over everything that had happened. "But my life's still pretty boring. Nothing really exciting has happened yet. But I did get a new job!" She giggled.

"But that's enough about me," She added, hoping to forestall any questions he would ask about her new job. She wasn't sure, but she doubted that it was okay to tell people about her job as a member of a top secret organization. "So what about you? Anybody get into your boss's stuff?"

Envy was confused for a moment, but then remembered his story to her. "Nope, nothing on that side. But, unfortunately, there's a girl who won't leave my mind, keeps distracting me so I'm unable to concentrate." He said with a grin.

"Oh?" Rizu tried to play it cool, but it was hard to keep her anxiety under control. He might be talking about her, or some other girl, she wasn't sure. One way she was afraid that Pelleas was interested in another girl, and the other she was nervous about him liking her in that manner. "What's the problem with her?"

"That's just it. There's no problem. I love having you on my mind." Envy's grin showed just how much he didn't care.

Rizu blushed again, this time in joy. "Th-thanks." Was all she could think of to say.

"I only wish I knew how to contact you outside of random meetings." Envy said chuckling a little. "After all, I have no guarantee that I'll ever meet you again. And if I don't, then it would be torture for me." He faked a tormented grimace.

Rizu laughed, "As if, I'm nobody special." She waved her hand in the air to show that his compliments were only air. It didn't matter to her. It did, but she tried to pretend that they didn't.

"Oh but you are more special than you realize. After all, not everybody can say that their fa-"

Rizu leaned forward and kissed him, successfully shutting him the hell up. The kiss was deep, and felt so good. "Don't mention that anymore." She whispered as she pulled back. "That Rizu is dead now."

Envy had no idea what she meant, but he accepted it. She felt good during the kiss, since he had enjoyed it so much, he deemed that she'd earned his secrecy for the moment. "As you wish." He murmured back. "So who are you now?"

"Just Rizu." She nodded acceptance of the new title. For that was what it was, more than just a name, it was a title.

"Alright, I'll remember that." Envy chuckled.

"And if you talk to any of my friends, we just now met." Rizu said conspiratorially.

"Gotcha." Envy gave her a curious look. "Do I get to know why?"

"Maybe if you succeed at meeting up with me again?" Rizu teased. "After all, a girl can't hand out all of her secrets on a first date."

"This is our second." Envy pointed out.

"Sh-shut up!" Rizu squealed and slapped his shoulder.

"Ow," Envy complained as a jest.

"Sorry!" Rizu panicked and leaned forward to see if he was alright.

"It was a joke." Envy sighed. "Don't be so literal." He wiped his face with his palm in resignation.

"Idiot." Rizu accused, slapping his shoulder again.

"Ow?" Envy questioned if she would fall for it again.

"Like I'll believe that." Rizu said disdainfully.

They continued having pleasant conversation of a similar nature for a few more hours. Then Megumi stumbled over and fell into Rizu's lap, giggling hysterically. "Hi Zuzu," She mumbled, patting Rizu's cheek. A heavy blush showed how much she had been drinking.

"Zuzu? Well, it's a pretty good nickname. Really cute!" Rizu hugged her. "Thanks for it Megumi!"

Megumi kissed her cheek. Making Rizu blush as deep as possible. "Megumi, we're in public! And my friend is right here!"

"Ooo, who is he?" Megumi fell backwards over the arm of the chair and looked at Pelleas. "Hello there cutie!" She waved at him upside down, the action endearing at such an awkward angle.

"Um, hello there?" Envy said. He was shocked at the loss of control by one of his greatest enemies. "I'm Pelleas." He held his hand out for her to shake.

Watching her try to shake hands upside down made both Envy and Rizu burst out in laughter. She succeeded, but the look of concentration and her disrupted mentality were adorable. She looked at them both in confusion before saying. "What?"

Which only spurred more laughter. She waved them both off and curled up in Rizu's lap, quickly falling asleep.

"I think we might need to leave soon." Rizu giggled.

"Looks like it might be a good idea. Do you need help getting her home?"

"Nope." Umiko said as she slipped up to Rizu's side. "I'll get her."

Envy began to stop her, but to his astonishment, she picked Megumi right up out of Rizu's lap and cradled her in her arms. She was physically stronger than he'd thought she be. Like he should talk, the homunculi were vastly stronger than they had any right to be.

Umiko led the way out of the club, the other girls, quickly joining up in a train behind her. Rizu was last to join up, hesitating a moment. She didn't just want to abandon Pelleas after all, that would be rude.

"Um, look Pelleas," She began awkwardly. "I gotta go with them. Make sure they all get home safe. I'm the only one who didn't drink I think." She started to edge away from him. "I'll see you again soon?" She near begged him.

Envy grabbed her wrist as she turned to leave and pulled her against him and into a deep kiss. Rizu was shocked, she most certainly never expected that, not that she didn't want it.

It wasn't long, not nearly as long as Rizu wanted it to before Pelleas pulled away from her. She just stared blankly at him when he moved his head to the side to whisper, "That had better be a promise."

He released a stunned Rizu from his embrace, letting her go to catch up with her allies. She whispered as she walked away.

"It is..."

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**Not that great a chapter, but it kinda sets the tone for future engagements. I hope you all enjoy, and remember that I love hearing from you all!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Well, I suppose I'm back. I've been having a lot of stuff that I'm doing rather than write, but I never forget about you guys! **

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Rizu was flushed the entire walk back to the house. A warmth had spread through her body, she actually felt like she was tingling. Beautiful, amazing, sexy, Pelleas had done that. It was all because of him that she felt this way. She easily caught up to her comrades, chuckling at Megumi's drunken antics.

It only just occurred to her now, on the way home, that she was only seventeen, and yet, none of the bartenders had even thought to restrict her from entering. _Maybe it had something to do with the group?_ She'd have to ask Ayako about it later. It probably had something to do with the outfit.

She helped Umiko hold Megumi up, giggling every time a problem with her balance occurred. She almost dragged them all to the ground several times. Only the quick reactions of Mist allowed them to keep their feet.

Megumi was out of her mind, loving every second of her inebriation. Megumi's enjoyment led to Mist's giggling. With both of those two enjoying themselves, Rizu was unable to keep a serious demeanor. Umiko appeared to be capable though. A gentle smile revealed her contentment.

When they finally arrived back at the house, the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. Megumi was asleep by this point, in a fireman's carry over Umiko's shoulder.

Ayako stepped out immediately and took Megumi, carrying her off into the house. Mist took off up the stairs under her own power. A few seconds passed before they heard a thud and a squeal as she dived onto Shinon. Umiko walked into the house, looking lost and alone.

That only lasted a brief moment before Canas swept into the room and wrapped both of his arms tightly around her waist. Umiko reacted as any normal girl would if a loved one had done so. It seemed out of character for her, but Rizu was quickly coming to realize that there would be no norm with the seemingly insane woman.

Despite all of the love flowing around her and excluding her, she felt no pangs of regret or sullenness. She knew that Pelleas was out there, and that sparked a warm sensation in the pit of her stomach. It may not have had time to fester, but she thought, she thought she might be in love.

But that was for another time. They'd only met twice, thrice if you counted the stair incident as Rizu did. She had no idea of his own feelings for her, but she knew that even as she thought of him now she felt giddy.

But that wasn't a matter for right now. She had to figure out a way for her to date him without endangering his life with her participation with the Black Hand. Maybe they would be accepting if she convinced them that it was only after she joined that she'd met him. Yeah that would work right?

She walked past the smiling couple, giving a polite nod as she passed. She tried to look as if she was bothered by it a little, but not too much. She didn't want to give Pelleas away already, and she didn't want to seem jealous.

Rizu stepped into the kitchen, thinking of what she could be doing with herself, when Ayako came flying down the stairs. "No time to rest! Job just came in!"

* * *

Megumi was miserable the entire time they travelled. It was only a few blocks away, but the curse words that spewed forth would make a sailor flush.

"Of course Central had to send out commands today. What, did they stalk us to find out when they could do it to make me the most miserable?"

"You know they didn't, and you have no one to blame but yourself." Ayako was without compassion. "You did it to yourself, deal with it."

"You're so mean!" Megumi grabbed her head with her right hand. "And loud! Could you try being quieter when you have to say something?"

"We're barely whispering. Stop drinking so heavily and you'd find yourself able to stand this." Ayako admonished. "Why must you do everything to extremes?"

"I didn't do it to extremes, but nobody else was drinking, so I figured I would start everybody off on the partying."

"Um, not to be rude, but none of us got much sleep last night." Shinon chimed in. "So can I ask what the situation is bossman?"

Ayako turned around and began walking backwards so he could face the group as they walked. "It's pretty simple. Rogue alchemist, causing problems. Only reason we got called in is because of _where_ he is. He's a non-registered fire alchemist, and right now, he's in the National Library. Fourteen hostages, and probably some allies, but our information is incomplete."

"So," Canas interjected. "More idiots giving us our news?"

"You know it."

Umiko was the next to chime in. "This oughta be fun!"

Megumi groaned. "Please, the noise?"

Mist was kissing Shinon. Neither of them was participating in the talk.

Rizu still had a lot to get used to.

The Library was under heavy guard, with hundreds of soldiers enclosing the building. "Who's commanding officer?" Ayako called out.

Immediately, a group headed toward him. "Who are you?" They asked in accusing tones. Ayako remained perfectly calm at their hostility.

"I'm the one taking over this operation by direct order of the Fuhrer," Ayako shoved his way through them.

"What do you mean!" The man shouted. Rizu noted his rank, a major general. His command was higher than Ayako's, but she wasn't sure that either of _them _knew that. Ayako just took command, but there was nothing on his person that gave any indication of his rank.

"I mean, get out of my way before I snap you in half."

Canas stifled a chuckle. The others in the group all had smiles fitted to their faces, even Rizu. He was just so confident!

"I'd suggest you move." Canas chimed in helpfully.

The general didn't though; he pulled rank in on Ayako. "I don't know who you think you are, but I'm the ranking officer here. I'm ran-"

Ayako spun around and got up in the man's face. "Do you even know the situation? What's the man's name? How did he get in there? How many hostages? What're the man's accomplishments? Do you even know how important this is? The Fuhrer ordered us come here, stand down!" The man visibly flinched and cowed away. "This is a Black Hand matter now. You may keep your troops in place or not as you see fit, but we're going in."

He waved his hand forward and Megumi strode past. She walked right up to the front doors of the building.

Once they had arrived home, before they'd been called away, she'd belted twin holsters onto her waist. Right now, she pulled one of the custom pistols out from one and spun it briefly about her finger. She then laid the barrel up against the hinge of the door.

She pulled the trigger and the door flew off into the library with a great resounding crash. Ayako and the rest of the group hopped to it. Rizu hesitated only a moment before joining them. The brigadier general was quickly turning purple in anger. He almost pulled a gun out to shoot at the group, but he bowed out to that. If these people were telling the truth, then he didn't want to be held accountable for their injury.

Canas slipped into the darkness and vanished. Ayako took the lead as he entered the inner sanctum of the library. Megumi stayed near to his side.

Shinon ducked off to the side and cleared the small reading areas, while Mist stayed in the rear of the group. Umiko was gone. Rizu was startled by this fact. She had seen Canas vanish, but Umiko had been right in front of her. Now she was just gone.

Rizu was in the middle of the group, between Ayako to the front and with Mist behind her. They walked through the building, being careful to examine every crevice and make sure that there was nobody behind them.

Megumi shot her gun off again and blew the gate into the inner sanctum of the library deeper in. Shouts could be heard this time, so the group mobilized swiftly. As it turned out, the hostages and the terrorists were in the room right behind the door.

The terrorists, five males and one female, only one of them not in a full black outfit, stood in the room. This was the man that they knew about, the fire alchemist.

The others of the group all appeared to be highly trained military personnel. Rizu tried to figure some details out from what she could she could see, but the group was completely clothed. Not an inch of flesh was visible in the lot of them.

Ayako lifted his hand to attack them, and Megumi pointed her gun, but the terrorists were quicker. They lowered weapons to the backs of the heads of their hostages and fired, no waiting and no hesitation.

Rizu panicked, snapping forward into action as soon as she saw them move the weapons. She snapped and thrust her hand out, at the same moment as the terrorists pulling their triggers. A deafening series of _booms_ resounded out, echoing in the chamber.

Ayako threw an explosion into the center of the enemy grouping while Megumi pulled her own trigger. Ayako's explosion filled the room with smoke and screams of pain, while Megumi appeared to be shooting a beam of...light, just raw concentrated light into the smoke.

Rizu's reaction had been instantaneous, she hadn't thought before she had done it, but now that she'd done it, she knew exactly what she had done, and how. Now that she'd had a second to think about what she'd done, it was pretty easy to break it down in reverse. She had punched forward with her power and lashed out.

It was the same tactic she'd done against the Fuhrer, organize a wall of hydrogen dioxide and then blast her father's flames against it. And it had worked with similar results. But unfortunately, her wall was incomplete. She had covered all but one of the hostages, placing a solid three inch wall of ice between the barrels of their guns and the hostages.

It was that that one that haunted her. His head appeared to explode, splashing crimson liquid against the crystal ice wall. Little flecks of grey and white showed the horror she had hoped to never see. She had saved thirteen of them, but the last one, he had never even gotten a chance to scream.

Blood, bone and brain spilled from the open cavity as he fell, the entire top half of his head was gone, just splattered against the ice and the floor.

Rizu tasted bile as the realization hit her. She had saved thirteen of them, _thirteen!_ How could she have _not_ saved them all? Her legs quivered at the implications. He was an innocent bystander! She was supposed to be guarding them wasn't she? As a member of the military?

What if he had had family? What if they relied on him? Would she be responsible for telling them of his demise? If she was, she knew already that she wouldn't be able to.

But who said that he had a family? Maybe he was around her age? She didn't know, his freaking head was missing! How could she attempt to guess his age? The rest of him looked fit enough, so she doubted that he was too much her elder. He probably had a date or a girlfriend out there waiting on him. What was she gonna think, how would she find out? What if that had been Pelleas? She would be devastated if he died, and how would she find out about it? She didn't even have a way of contacting him-

She realized how distracted she gotten and reigned her thoughts and emotions in. She was on the battlefield, with a person dead in front of her, a person _she_ had failed to save, and she was thinking about her date?

She lucked out due to the group she was with. If they weren't as talented as they were, she most likely would have died as well.

Ayako opening blast had stunned the group and knocked two out. They couldn't be sure, but it did not look like a fatal injury. At least from his attacks.

Megumi's light, or fire or whatever it was, had blasted right through several of the group. Scorched, gaping wounds littered their bodies, some were riddled with multiple injuries.

Others however, others didn't have the gaping holes in their bodies that appeared characteristic of her work, nor the blasted appearance of Ayako's damage. These ones had simple scorches. But each and every one hit by whatever did this, every last one was dead, without a doubt.

She realized that she hadn't seen Shinon move for the attack, maybe he had done it? She thought about it and figured nothing else made any more sense right now.

Now that the attack was actually finished with, Mist rushed forward to the bodies and started cataloguing them. Same with the hostages. "Not too bad," She declared. A cursory examination was all that was needed to determine how injured they were. Except for the one, none of the hostages had a scratch on them. Physically at least. They'd all be pretty badly scarred mentally for a long time from now.

As for the bad guys, of them all, only one was still alive. It was one of those shrouded in black.

Ayako stalked over, carelessly splashing through a puddle of red on his path. He immediately began to questioning the man. His questions were pretty basic, "Who are you?" "Who do you work for?" and the such.

The man chuckled and refused to answer. With him unwilling to speak, Ayako turned to drastic measures. "Leave him for Umiko and Canas." The Man of Secrets and the psychopath. Rizu felt a little sorry for the man.

"What are they going to do to him?" Rizu asked when Ayako walked by.

"I don't know and I don't care to ask. They can always get information from people though, in any situation. I'm not going to force them to reveal their methods and then have to court marshal them over it. I think it's pretty easy to guess. Right about," He ticked off seconds on his fingers. When he folded his last finger down into a fist, screaming could be heard from the house behind them. "Now."

Rizu could feel her stomach churn at what she knew was happening behind them. _Torture,_ the word burned through her body, igniting in the pit of her stomach, searing through her torso and blazing up past her extremities.

She was glad that she wasn't able to see what they had done to force such noise from a human throat. It must have been something fiercely painful. These were hardened criminals and fanatics, no little pain would suffice to cause them pain, and this was agonized screaming. She shivered.

The group stood around the doorway, preventing any others from entering the building until the rest of their team cleared out.

It was only moments before Canas and Umiko stepped from the doorway. Umiko's hands dripped blood down from her elbows. Canas had his in his pockets, the long sleeves of his robe covering the length of his arm.

"Well that was easy." Umiko said, brushing her hands together and splashing drops of blood about.

A drop splashed against Rizu's cheek. She jumped, appalled at the contact. _How could Umiko be so calm about it?_ It was pain, torture, her enemy didn't even have a chance to defend himself. Rizu felt sick.

Canas walked next to Ayako, tipping his head in for privacy. The other members of the group were the only ones close enough to hear what was said. "We've got a problem..."

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**Read**** and review, you know you want to. Plus unless you review it, how am I supposed to know what to write, my readers are able to play a major role in what I write.**


	14. Chapter 14

Canas spoke quick and quiet. "There's a conspiracy. A plan to take out the Fuhrer, among other things. We got a headquarters, but you can bet money that it isn't their main one. Probably just a local operation here."

Ayako's face turned grim. "How many does this make?"

For a moment, no one answered. Umiko was the one who supplied the response. "This makes three this year, for a total of fourteen!" She giggled.

"Awesome, this has to be a record. Has any other Fuhrer gotten that many assassin attempts?"

"Nope." Megumi answered. "Must be something to do with you."

"This is a little more serious than the other threats though guys." Canas tried to bring them back on subject.

"And how does this one differ?" Ayako played it off as nothing.

"Father." With that one word, Canas shattered the confidence that had been building up. The group was still confident, but now it was held in check.

They all remembered listening to the stories of the time before Mustang's rule. Terror, military actions, brutality, and the homunculi. They'd all been lured into safety, thinking that those were all problems from another era.

"Well, that certainly puts a downer on things. This cult, group, organization, whatever they are, are tied in with Father?"

"That's what they said. It's entirely likely that they were just using that name to frighten us into submission. But better to err on the side of caution." Canas allotted the alternate hypothesis an opportunity.

Ayako did his thinking while the others talked.

"They can't really think that Father's still here? He was killed by Fullmetal and his cohorts." Megumi said to Canas.

"Father became nearly a god during his final moments, many alchemists committed human transmutation. But Roy was cursed by it without any benefit to it. He did not try for his on his own, one of the standards of human alchemy. And yet Father and his crew overturned most of everything we know about those methods." Canas shook his head. "We can't anticipate that any of the natural laws will restrain them."

Umiko chirped in. "So? If they come, we'll kill them, if not, then we won't!"

"And the fact that they regenerate near instantly?" Mist pointed out.

"We'll kill them again!"

Ayako had heard enough. "Unfortunately, she's right." He sighed. "There are no guarantees when dealing with this group. If we had some idea of where they were, besides this little headquarters, then I'd say let's go wipe them out before they get their chance, but we don't, so we can't. We don't even know if they actually exist."

Canas was nodding sagely. Megumi seemed to accept the wisdom Ayako was spilling out. Mist didn't look like she was even paying attention. And shinon was the only one who actually appeared to be angry at the fact that they weren't going after them. Umiko was staring off into space. Ayako was thinking hard about their next move.

"Mist, Rizu, Shinon, Megumi, stay behind and guard the Fuhrer. Canas, Umiko, you're with me hunting these bastards down." He turned and began walking off.

The two he had called out followed him, while Megumi fumed about being left behind. "You know you're going to get it for ditching me!" She threatened. Ayako waved it off.

"Unfortunately, it's not what I'm going to get, but rather what I'm not that I'm worried about." Ayako had a gleam in his eye.

Megumi pulled a gun and aimed it at his face. "Don't tempt me." The gun slowly lowered until it was aimed at the joining of his legs.

"Good luck with that." Ayako was calm as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You enjoy those as much as I do."

Rizu happened to be close enough to overhear him. Her face brightened to scarlet at the implications of what he said.

Mist was happy about being left behind, it was easier for her to do things in a support role. Rizu was still figuring where she fit in best, so she was okay being left behind. Megumi realized how little argument she had against Ayako's commands. They all walked off their separate ways.

Rizu stayed close behind Megumi with Mist directly behind her as they headed toward the main building of Central, Headquarters. They didn't rush, but neither could their passage be considered slow. When they finally arrived at the building, they walked right through the guards and muscled their way into seeing the Fuhrer.

Well, Megumi muscled her way in. Mist and Rizu mostly just followed along after. But they made sure to not be too far behind. They didn't want any of the guards to separate them.

They made it into the Fuhrer's private offices just as a loud _crack _sounded. The Fuhrer stood up to greet them as they walked in and his neck exploded.

"Sniper!" Megumi shouted as she rushed into the room, leaning out the window. "Take care of the Fuhrer, I'm going for him!" She then threw herself out of the window.

Mist and Rizu were both in a state of shock, covering in the Fuhrer's life. Rizu moved first though, surprising both herself and Mist. She knelt down by the Fuhrer's unmoving body, putting a hand on either side of the bullet hole. She had absolutely no idea what to do, but it seemed that he was bleeding a lot. She knew that blood was mostly made of water, so she figured she could slow the bleeding some by freezing the area around him.

Mist, by then, had summoned the energy to react and made her way to join Rizu. "Good idea." She mumbled as she knelt down, feeling the cold.

In any other situation, Rizu would have felt accomplished to get a compliment from one of her mentors like that, but at the moment, with the Fuhrer, their boss, laying dying on the ground, she just couldn't. Rizu had no time to feel good about herself.

Mist stripped the Fuhrer's chest of his military and the shirt underneath, revealing a hard, muscular body. A life of military work had made him into a very ripped Fuhrer.

Rizu stayed near, but aside from keeping her powers active and staunching the blood flow, she wasn't really doing much. But she knew that she shouldn't just up and leave. She was torn, she knew she could help Megumi in some way chasing the attacking, even if it was just blocking a street, but she didn't want to just leave Mist there all by herself.

So she stayed. Didn't do much to help though. Mostly just sat on her haunches and watched. At least she could say that she was being trained for later, because she was paying close attention to what Mist was doing.

But then Mist did something Rizu didn't anticipate. She looked to the door and waved Rizu to close it. Rizu obeyed and watched Mist's hands begin to glow. "A-are you doing-"

Mist snapped her eyes to her and put a finger to her lips. This was a side of Mist that Rizu had never even anticipated. She was dealing with _human alchemy!_

Mist's hands worked over the Fuhrer's chest, slowly repairing the damage, cell by cell. "I'm not sure if he's going to make it. This kind of damage is difficult to deal with, it severely damaged his carotid artery on both sides. I did what I could, but only time can tell now."

And so they waited.

* * *

Megumi returned after some time. When she finally did, she was coated in blood.

"What the hell happened?" Rizu asked her. "Are you alright?"

"Of course!" Megumi strutted forward. "Do you think that one little assassin is going to do anything to me? I'm amazing!" She brushed her hand along her arm and flicked drops of blood off of her. "But forget that for now, how's the Fuhrer?"

"Critical is all I can say for now." Mist replied. She honestly had nothing better to say. Megumi sighed. "We have no guarantees anymore."

"Is there any good news you can tell me?"

"Rizu helped!" Mist actually sounded excited about it. "Still is for that matter!"

Rizu's face was turning pale from the continuous strain, but she refused to give up until she exhausted herself or Mist told her it was fine. Megumi gave her a stare that made her shiver. "Good work Rizu." She said, patting the smaller girl on the shoulder.

Rizu glowed under the praise. Mist allowed Rizu her time in the sun, avoiding taking any of the credit for herself. They all knew who really did most of the work, but Rizu had never really done anything of import, and especially nothing for the team.

"Keep up the good work." Megumi said. Mist concurred with Megumi's assessment.

And then the guards arrived. "'Bout time you slackards got here!" Megumi said emphatically. As she spoke however, she saw that all of the guards were pointing weapons at the trio. "What the hell is this?" Megumi raged.

And then the Major General walked in. "This is your arrest _traitors_." He sneered. It was the same major general that Ayako had spurned earlier at the hostage situation.

"We have authority. You can't arrest us, _that's_ treason." Megumi chuckled.

The major general joined her in her humor. "Where does your authority come from?"

"Straight from the F-" Megumi caught on. "Damn." She muttered as she put her hands up above her head.

It took Rizu another moment before she caught the drift, but when she did she immediately followed suit and put her hands up. Mist was resolute however. If she lifted her hands from where they working, the Fuhrer would almost certainly die.

"Put your hands up whore!" The major general shouted slapping her hard across the face. She fell, but her hands remained firmly in place.

From across the street there was another set of eyes watching the scene. This set wasn't known to any of the others, even his allies had all but forgotten him. But he hadn't forgotten them. The Plasma Alchemist watched every movement, but when he saw his girl get slapped he lost it.

He aligned everything perfectly. Long lines of gas in a negative stream stretching from his hand out over the street and around each of the guards. The beauty of lightning, it didn't obey the things that got in its way, it just barreled on through. "Beautiful." He whispered as he rubbed his fingers together to create friction. Nobody realized it, but lightning was actually extremely easy to create. All he really had to do was create a large negative charge and repel it out along the air in a line which he planned to use.

All of this he did, and all that was left was the actually charge. Anybody who really studied lightning would know that it was created almost 90% of the time by minute particles such as ice in the sky rubbing against each other. Once you recognized that it was only a type of friction, it was easy to reproduce.

So from rubbing his fingers, he could recreate the friction to start the chain. With static built up, all of that negative charge filling his hand. He just lay it upon the trail he created and with a loud booming crash, a bolt of lightning jumped and cleared the other room.

"Oops. That wasn't very nice beauty." He whispered before leaping down from the second story window and heading over. Megumi, Rizu and Mist jumped out the window, trusting their fall to Shinon.

Shinon didn't fail them. He caught each of the girls as they fell and put them gently on their feet in the street. Once all of them had regained their feet, Megumi looked at him. "Good thing you never follow orders."

"Any of them left?" He questioned, ignoring her compliment.

"Lightning right through each of them, immediate cardiac arrest and a big singed hole through their chests." Megumi answered.

"Good." Shinon answered, leaning next to Mist and sweeping her hair aside to clear her cheek. He examined it carefully. "They didn't deserve it. Are you okay?" He asked tenderly.

Mist nodded. "I-I'm fine, just shook up."

Shinon nodded, accepted it and then turning. His eyes focused narrowly as he checked for escape routes, his mind moving at the speed of lightning. _Three guards coming left, twenty coming right, all exits blocked up front, circling now, thirty seconds until all routes sealed._

"Let's hurry." He said, grabbing Megumi's hand and trying to pull her away.

Rizu saw an exit that nobody else did. "Wait!" She shouted, slapping her hands on the ground underneath their feet.

The others all turned to her and glared. "We don't have time for this, move!"

Rizu shook her head. "I know these grounds. The day is wrong. Your routes would work if it was tomorrow, but today the guards are doubled over each location." She relished in the fact that she knew more than her amazing team.

As she finished speaking, her words were proven true. A squad of guardsmen rushed around each of the corners behind them, right where Shinon planned to lead them. "Somebody, blast the ground where I just touched!"

Shinon was first to answer her, snapping his fingers and blasting a bolt into the earth in front of her. This was the true test of whether she was fit to join them.

As it turned out, she wasn't exact with her calculations. The ground below all of them collapsed, sending them in total darkness...

* * *

**Sorry about how long it's taken me to write, but honestly...I haven't really had any motivation to do...well anything except roleplay online...Guess I really just want to escape being me... Anyway, read/review, or whatever...**


	15. Chapter 15

Envy watched from a nearby rooftop as Rizu ordered the destruction of the street under them and as the man among them obeyed. That was a very impressive tactic. Then the negative aspect to it came about as the three all fell through the ground. Screams and grunts of pain followed their fall. A lot of shouted curses and complaints followed, culminating in a final, "Good enough job Rizu." Said by the girl with the black-and-red hair.

Envy knew her voice rather well. He'd often been engaged in combat with her, indirectly of course, but enough that he knew her voice clearly, even hidden as it was by the earth and depth from the bottom of the hole. She was too much a bitch to be quieted even through ten feet of stone.

He leapt down from the rooftop and hit the ground hard. Not that it bothered him any. There were some really heavy perks to being a homunculus.

Now that he knew that Rizu would be fine. Not that he was worried about her or anything. But now that she was definitely out of danger and in the care of the other Black Hand members in their element now, he felt confident enough to head off to his own mission. He felt kind of bad about what he had just had to do. Not that he felt bad about shooting the Fuhrer. But putting Rizu and company in such dire straits, was riding on his conscience a little.

He stopped in the middle of the street. He was _Envy!_ What the hell was he thinking? Guilt? Conscience? Something was up with this. He was guilt-free, never feeling bad about anything. He killed scores of children with no remorse. He was the one who started the Ishvalan Civil War for god's sake! And now he was feeling bad about screwing with his enemies? Even if one of them a cutie. He growled as that thought entered his mind.

He passed by a soldier and changed his body into a commanding officer. "You! Hand me your pistol!" He ordered.

The soldier of course obeyed his commanding officer.

With pistol in hand. Envy turned the gun on the man and shot him in his right eye. He died immediately, without being able to move any part of his body in reaction to the shot. As the man fell backwards, Envy ducked around a corner and reverted back to his chosen body and continued on his way, cackling evilly.

An alarm went up, even more than the alarm that went up in response to his shooting of the Fuhrer. But that had been in a building, and with a silenced weapon, this was brutal and right in the streets.

Once out of the city, he changed his form once more, to allow him to travel faster. He took to the air. _One group of the bastards taken out of the picture. Now to cut the head off of the snake._

He flew wide and hard, heading in a direct path towards Ayako and companions, only veering slightly to get the best route through the air. These three were to die, as the real trouble for his group. Megumi was just a flame sprout, completely useless in strategizing, and the same could be said for Shinon. They were qui ck thinkers, but they could only react. Mist was just a healer, she followed orders and nothing else. Unfortunately, Rizu had to do something stupid like she'd just done to prove herself capable in a leadership role as well. That might make her a target later on if things continued this way.

If she ever did become a real problem with her, he'd kill her himself. He avowed himself to do at least that much, to keep her from much of the pain. He could only imagine the suffering she would have at the hands of Pride or Lust.

He landed in a tree, with the three targets only just visible even with his vision as excellent as a bird could see. He had been commanded to crush them, but not in plain sight. He was to wait for them to enter a cave in the area where their supposed associates were supposed to be set up.

A fake compound, with about fifty fake employees, and a thousand fake defenses. Nobody would be escaping. All of the employees, and the Black Hand, crushed like insects.

He waited until the three Black Hand walked into the cave before he flew again and rose up above the cave system. While up there, he gave them another chance to get in, hearing the gunshots and agony as they encountered the first enemies. Once he was sure they were well within the compound, he flew straight up and shifted into his massive true form. Ten thousand pounds of massive homunculus came smashing down and crashed against the ground, cracking and breaking the ground in massive fissures which twisted and fell beneath his weight. He had gone extra high to maximize his terminal velocity.

The first floor shattered and he listened pleasantly to the screams of pain and squishing of human bodies. His speed never slowed down, crashing through the second, third, fourth, and so on until he finally hit against the bottom layer.

He changed back to his favored form and stood tall, looking around filled with pride at all of the devastation. "There, problem solved." He said to nobody.

He started climbing out of the crater, dusting himself off as he stood up. "And they thought I would be in danger from them."

Once he'd clambered out of the crater, he started off back to Central. His duties were sated, nobody had anymore duties for him to his knowledge. And he wasn't going to head back to base for anything new for a while. He'd just tell them that the mission ran long.

And in the meantime, he had more than enough time to get back and spy on Rizu and company once again. He knew that a fall into the sewers wouldn't stop them in the slightest. And if the girls really had a freaking out session in that, then Envy really had his doubts about his team, because this group had overwhelmed them on numerous occasions. Not that Envy really thought highly of his group.

* * *

Envy didn't actually bother with going into Central. He slipped into the sewers from another location and headed down into the darkness. Although the group might pose some danger, especially since they would know his abilities quite well. They'd know about his healing powers, but he had more than one way to be dangerous.

He changed his form into that of the robed man, making his best guesses as to the exact dimensions of the man. The red-eyed one and the girl with the crazy hair were both too volatile, he wasn't sure he could match up with them mentally. They weren't human. Not that he was either, but he could match up with a human easily than they. They were just so foreign. It was like an Amestrian trying to understand the inner mechanisms of a Xingese citizen. He also mirrored several near-fatal injuries on the man's body. They wouldn't believe his story if he came back without the others.

He steadily began to make his way through the sewers toward them. With his senses, it was no challenge to find them.

Once he had singled down their location, he steadily made his way over to them. Avoiding anything that would give his position away. Once he could see them, he started to make his presence known and his injuries more evident. He stumbled, almost throwing himself into the river of excrement, He avoided it just barely, but in truth was in full control. Rizu gasped at what she saw. Shinon got very serious, while Mist looked torn up about it. Megumi's face turned sour, and a stern demeanor overcame her.

"Things, went bad," He muttered as he stumbled towards them.

Mist looked away, and Shinon wrapped his arm around her. Envy chuckled inwardly, but kept a pained look on his face.

Megumi drew one of her pistols, leveled it at Envy's faces, and fired. Envy only saw blazing red and orange haze before the world turned black...

* * *

**Sorry everybody for how it's taken me. But unfortunately, I think I've found myself in the midst of a depression, I cannot find any form of inspiration. The only thing that seems to motivate me to write is a complete lack of interest in anything else. I literally just got SO bored that writing was more interesting than not doing so.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Time for a dump posting! A chapter for each of my stories! RxR Everybody! You know I live for reviews! And Happy Halloween!**

* * *

Rizu nearly screamed when she saw Megumi shoot Canas. The shot went straight into his forehead, just above the bridge of his nose and blasted through the back of his skull. The rest of his head exploded into flames. It was clearly an immediate death. There was nothing that would be able to save him in the least. Megumi just killed Canas!?

"What the hell did you just do that for!?" Rizu shouted at Megumi. "You just killed out teammate!"

Megumi stared at her. "You've got to be kidding me. That wasn't Canas. Canas would never come back without the others, even if he had to cut out his intestines and use them to drag the others along behind them. Plus, Canas isn't stupid. If I pointed my gun at him, he'd drop an ice wall down in front of the shot. He was quick enough for that, and it wasn't exactly a difficult issue."

"What? You don't know that! That could just have easily have been him!"

As Rizu shouted that, red lightning jumped from the corpse, lighting up the huge gaping hole through his head. As the pieces leapt back into place and his skin repaired, their eyes widened.

"What a bitch!" The body shouted as it stood up. "Shooting an ally just like that? Without even questioning to see if it was the real person?" The voice was cruel to listen to, a sour twist that grated on the ears.

"What did I tell you?" Megumi leveled her weapon at him again and fired.

"Goddammit!" The voice hit high notes in its shrill screaming. "I hate fire! Why does everything always burn!"

The memory snapped into place in Rizu's mind. Her father, speaking about killing a homunculus. The homunculus Envy, the first and oldest of the sins of Father. The Canas copy shifted, expanding and turning green as it grew. "It's Envy!" She gasped, holding a shaking hand over her mouth.

"Envy!" Megumi flipped her other gun out of its holster and burned through the hand that the Envy monster was using to push itself up. "Everybody get out!"

Envy's arm buckled and he fell into the sewer sludge. Shinon grabbed Mist and dragged her down away from the monster, but the creature's next words stopped Megumi and Rizu in their tracks.

"I don't know where you're running to! We've already destroyed your house! I crushed your fearless leader myself! And the creepy couple! It's just the four of you! What can you really do?"

Megumi tried to move, to attack him, to lash out, even to scream. But she was frozen. She wasn't even able to shift her head to look at the monster. She was frozen solid more solidly than if Canas had frozen her in a block of ice.

_Ayako, dead? _It wasn't possible. He was always so powerful, so mighty. He was invincible, so strong, so powerful, he was powerful enough to destroy an entire city. He was stronger than any other fire alchemist. He had all of Kimblee's knowledge, and then some. He had been personally trained, in secret, by Roy Mustang himself, breaking Roy's promise to Riza. Ayako was a king of fire and flame, of the explosive arts, anything destructive, he was a master of it. In her time with him, he had levelled at least three cities, and now, he was dead? Just gone?

Already, she was having difficulty breathing over learning this. Her family had died, all killed at the same time in an 'unexplainable accident.' She had very few friends. Ayako was her lover in every way. She shared his bed, she shared her body, she shared her heart with him. There was nobody else in the world who meant half as much to her, and now he was just dead?

"No, no, no, no, nonononononono," Her legs began to shake, starting to give out on her.

Rizu pushed her hand into the sewage and focused. She was still tired from the effort she'd put into trying to save the Fuhrer, but she knew that she had to move quickly to capitalize on Megumi's efforts to take Envy down. Her energy froze the sewage, spewing it up above him and freezing the entire river of sewage. She also froze the air into a massive block, filling the tunnel above and around the monster before it could recover enough to stand up.

She turned to Megumi and grabbed her hand, bringing it up near her face. "Come on Megumi! You know that he's a monster! It's a homunculus! They lie! He's probably never even seen Ayako before in his life and you're taking his word as absolute truth?" To ensure that Megumi understood the totality of her statement, she whipped a hand up and slapped the taller woman soundly.

Megumi snapped out of it and glared at Rizu. "Didn't I tell you to move?" She shouted at her.

Rizu nodded and ran with her down the tunnel. Shinon and Mist had stopped around a corner and joined up with them as they ran past.

"We have to find Ayako." Megumi said quietly as she led them.

"Do we even know where they were headed? Because I sure as hell don't." Shinon inquired.

"Shut up Flash." Megumi came back with.

"I just want to know if we even know where we're heading. Or if it's just jumping with our guts?"

"Shut up Shinon."

"Fine get us all killed."

"Will you shut your goddamn mouth up! Shut up, shut up shut up! Shut the hell up! Shut up!" Megumi's eyes were fluid as she struggled to keep her tears hidden from the others. Her voice showed them however. She struggled to stay strong, and failed miserably.

Shinon wisely choose to keep quiet. His aggression radiated out from him. Everybody was tense, but Megumi seemed to be getting hit especially hard. Which made perfect sense all things considered.

Megumi led them down and through the tunnel, with a nearly visible aura of anger.

Out of the tunnel however, they really didn't have an idea of where they should be heading. Even Megumi was at a loss. She wasn't used to making decisions, even when Ayako left her in charge, he still always explained what he expected them to do.

They exited the tunnels outside of Central. The house was actually outside of the city limits anyway, so the most logical place for them to turn was to their home. As they approached a line of smoke in the sky became clearer. The origin of the smoke quickly became apparent. Mist was the first to make the connection and raced off ahead of the others. Her thought process jumped among the others, who reacted with admirable speed.

As they crested the hill, they saw the remains of their home. A burned out husk. The walls were nearly gone, bare structures at the corners.

Rizu hated herself for the thought that jumped through her head first. Her first thought was for all of the clothes that she had just bought. Yes she was worried about all of the other things and that their house had just been destroyed.

All of the books, all of the furniture. There wasn't a single standing piece actually standing within the confines of their building. Megumi took a few steps into the ashes and whirled on Shinon.

"Do you still think that we shouldn't chase after them? Go find our fellows? Fine, where else do you think we should go? We can't go home! They destroyed it! They know who we are, and they know where we live, it's not like we can just fade back into being nobodies again! We're dead as long as Ayako isn't taking command. Do you know what we should do? Or are you just as lost as the rest of us? Please tell us of your hidden logistically ability."

"Just shut up!" Shinon's voice came out torn and mixed with a growl. "Shut up and stop bitching at me. I don't know what the f*ck to tell you. Envy said he crushed them. Don't get testy because your boyfriend's dead. Screaming at me isn't going to bring him back."

"Ayako's not dead!" Megumi screamed at him. "Now are you going to stay with us, or ditch us to do your own thing? Whatever that is."

"I'm certainly not going to follow you to my death. Go do whatever you want, me and Mist are out." Shinon wrapped an arm over Mist's shoulders and pulled her up against his body.

"You're leaving us too Mist?"

Mist was indecisive for a moment, but she finally nodded. "I'm sorry."

Shinon started walking her off down the hill. "Good luck with it, hope your death means something." He waved once and then they were gone.

Megumi spun on Rizu. "Are you going to leave me as well?" Her voice no longer had any vigor in it. "Don't bother answering, just leave."

RIzu couldn't just leave her in such a state. "We might as well see what we can scavenge from around here." She suggested as she stepped onto the ash.

"Wait, you're staying?" Megumi actually seemed surprised by it.

"Of course I am. I can't just abandon my teammates."

* * *

After several hours of searching, there was really nothing to show for it. A few tattered remains of clothing, a few burnt out copies of books.

"Alright, Rizu. Keep a close eye on the woods." Megumi said softly.

"Okay?" She questioned in response. "Why?"

"In case somebody's watching us, obviously. I have to do something that would be preferable that others don't see."

"Right."

Megumi dug into the ash and dirt and began to unearth a thick metal box. Within this box were her most prized possessions. She dragged the box out of the ground and wrapped her arms around it in a hug.

"Follow me Rizu, we're gonna stay at an inn tonight."

The pain was still audible on her voice. But it was still better than the sheer despair she had had back in the sewers.

She started to head off into the city. Rizu could readily see how tense the girl was. Her entire back was tightened with stress and hurt. Megumi was just putting on a facade of being tough. It was obvious how much she hurting. Rizu felt terrible for her. Somebody so strong, torn down to so low a level. She was destroyed, a bare shadow of what she had been.

Megumi turned suddenly and slipped into the back entrance of one of the taverns. Once inside, she called over to the barkeep and secured a room as Rizu walked awkwardly inside.

Once they were securely in their room, Megumi turned on her. "Okay, we're in luck. Word of our 'crime' hasn't gotten around yet. We still have a major amount of influence."

"Well that's good?" Rizu wasn't actually sure about that.

"Very. It means that many of our usual outlets will still help us. Without incurring a huge debt. And many others we can bluff into doing our dirty work, at least for right now. We'll have to work fast in order to ensure that we can beat it's becoming public knowledge."

"So should we really stop for the night?"

"It won't matter in the long run. The ones who will find out about it overnight will already know, and the rest of them won't find out for a few days at this rate." Megumi walked over to one of the tables in the room and dropped the heavy safe box she'd dug out of the ground on top of it.

"So what's so important about that case anyway?" Rizu asked before her doubts could intrude.

"This is my box. With everything important from my life before I joined the BLack Hand. This is my entire life outside of the organization." She sighed before tugging sharply on the lock, which broke with a sharp retort. She opened it slowly. "I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore. Since we're basically disbanded. The Fuhrer's not going to live through the night."

"But wait, Mist said that it was up in the air about his survival."

"Those weren't real soldiers who raced in. If he's not dead already, he'll be dead soon. Too soon for us to do anything to save him. Just like during your father's time, whoever is controlling the homunculi, will soon control all of Amestris. And at this moment, it doesn't appear that there is anything that we will be able to do to stop them."

Rizu really didn't mean to pry into Megumi's history, but her curiosity overcame her and dominated her actions as Megumi began to draw items out of the chest.

The first item out was a large caliber revolver, completely crafted out of pure silver, marked a thousand times over with different symbols and glyphs from numerous branches of alchemy. A large box of matched bullets came next, each marked with different symbols stylized to match different alchemic pathways. They were all from different ideologies even, some from fire alchemy that RIzu could remember only from talks she'd had with her father, while others were twisting messages scrawled through with multiple layers of blue inlaid through the runes. Some were even evil to look at, almost a physical pain just under her ability to recognize .

After the gun came a leather bound book, filled with hundreds of letters and messages from an unknown hand, written in a beautiful calligraphy. Megumi flipped through a few pages before laying it off to the side.

The next object was an alchemist's watch, with some writing scratched on the back of it. Megumi put it down, with the smooth side face-up before Rizu was able to read what it said.

The final item was the one that hit Rizu hardest. Megumi pulled a little box out of the chest and held it cupped in her hand. She opened the box as more tears filled her eyes and spilled over. She turned to Rizu. "Don't be as stupid as I was."

"Um, wh-what do you mean?" Rizu questioned. Megumi was starting to scare her.

"I mean." She turned the box to Rizu. Inside was a beautiful ring, with several different types of stones being present. A large ruby made up the center of the piece, with four garnets stocked at the diagonals of the ruby, and finally, between the garnets, were four cuprites. A thin circle around the ring of eight was made up of crushed sapphires. "That Ayako gave me this when he proposed to me. And I just kept on pushing it off."

Rizu broke into tears as well before wrapping Megumi in a hug. She could imagine just how painful this could be for the poor girl. She well remembered how much it had hurt when her father and mother had died, and this was somebody that she'd fallen in love in. Rizu's parents had really been too distanced through work.

Megumi allowed her iron hard outer shell to break right then. It just hurt too much for her keep it up any longer.

Rizu allowed her to, gently stroking her hair until she calmed down.


	17. Chapter 17

Envy backhanded the girl. He was disappointed, in himself, in his family, in her. He had planned and plotted his infiltration into the Black Hand. Go figure they would have a contingency to ensure that something like that wouldn't be able to happen. So here he was, taking his anger out on one of the people who had devoted their lives to serving him. It was actually kinda sad, pathetic really.

She'd been able to work out who he was long ago, back just a few days after he'd been resurrected, and before he changed his form to his new, more masculine body. Apparently he was rather infamous. He hadn't expected to be so easily recognized, not that he had an issue with it.

His maker did though, and he saw the reasoning behind it. If this random girl could figure out who he was, his ability as a spy was rather diminished wasn't it? Although in this case, it was actually a good thing that she recognized him. She proved herself to be a somewhat adequate ally, but most important, at least in Envy's opinion, she proved to be a steady punching bag. So long as it was Envy, she didn't care what he did to her.

It had all started in a forest, Envy had been going out to get more adjusted to being alive again. Despite being a hundred times better than a human in every way, they still needed some time to adjust to life and gain control of themselves.

* * *

While he walked, he'd stumbled across the girl kneeling at the side of a river. She seemed to be whimpering in pain of some sort, so of course that had piqued Envy's interest.

What he saw wasn't quite what he expected. Although he had no issues with what he saw, he just wasn't expecting to find a human who was causing themselves pain. He knew that in some cases, it wasn't all that rare, "Something the matter girl?" He moved closer, the better to see her injury.

It was rather distressing, even for him. He wasn't used to seeing physical injuries, since his family was able to recover immediately from any injury. His memory was still recovering, it wasn't like he could just pop back and be the same person he was. He needed to slowly regain each memory of his last life. Sometimes they just came, without him even realizing it. Other times, it was a full blown realization, making him stop and pause as the flood surged through his mind.

He stalked to her side, looking down at what she was doing. He'd clearly startled her, making her jump and open up another cut in her arm, much smaller this time however. She quickly began to hide what she was doing, but he'd already seen it.

Here, he and his were trying so hard to cause havoc and dominate the human species, and at the same time, the human species was actively _trying_ to kill itself, wanting to be dominated.

She folded her arm under her skirt, keeping it tucked down behind her body so he wouldn't be able to see the injury. As if he cared about her health. He'd already seen the wound, raw and bloodied across her wrist, just below her palm. As he watched her put it away, he noticed a distressing detail about this girl. She was almost identical to him, but with breasts. Her hair was long and laid low down her body in long spiked rows of dark green. A pretty face, and a toned firm body. She wore a sleeveless, skin-tight cut off shirt that left her abdomen bare to the elements. Her lower body was covered with a pair of tight shorts, covered by a loose wrap. The entire outfit was stylized in black colors, marking her a near perfect match to Envy himself. Even her eyes were the same soft violet. Except with breasts.

It wasn't a bad look on her. But Envy thought that he pulled it off better.

The girl looked up at Envy, and simply stared for a few long seconds. "Y-you're Envy! The homunculus!" She nearly screamed.

_Aw, goddammit! _He thought. "Who the hell are you?" He lashed out at her, catching her on the cheek and launching her into the river. He immediately pounced on her back and pressed her face into the water. He held her face down, calmly counting the seconds as they passed. When he arrived at twenty, he pulled her up, keeping a knee pressed firmly into her spine. "Well then, talk bitch!"

She coughed and sputtered, struggling to even breathe.

He smacked the back of her head. "Come on! You've got ten seconds before I push you under again, and I won't stop until the bubbles do this time!"

She took a deep breath, coughed briefly and attempted to speak. "I ugh, I'm a fan! M-my family ha-has been searching for a way to bring you back. W-we've long worshipped you!"

Envy dunked her head again while he thought over what she'd said. Well, he couldn't fault them for worshipping him, he was rather amazing after all. But what were the chances of finding somebody like that wandering about the forest? The chances were nigh-astronomical. He couldn't just trust this bitch after just meeting her, but she didn't appear right in the head anyway, so it was entirely possible that she really did think so highly of him.

There wasn't all that much that he could see going badly should he actually accept her under his wing. What? Was she supposed to single handedly do what a half dozen of the best alchemists in history weren't able to do without the help of the legendary Hohenheim? He highly doubted that she had powers of that magnitude.

He pulled her head out of the water and shook her like a rag doll. No response, looked like he'd accidently held her head down for too long. _Oh well. _

Right as he was about to give the girl up as dead, she gasped and coughed. He tossed her over to the bank of the river, where she landed hard. She rolled over to her side and vomited up a large amount of water. It was hilarious, Envy actually broke out in a chuckle. "Alright, now give me more of a reason to actually allow you to come with me? You haven't really said much about who you are."

"Aceline Solar," The girl responded, still out of breath and gagging. "My, my name is Aceline Solar. My pare-nts were alive your last life and fell under the spell of the homunculi. Imagining them as gods."

Envy chuckled. Well, _he_ at least fit that bill. "And you're cutting yourself because?"

She flushed crimson, hiding the arm behind her body again. "W-well, I had um, I'd begun to give up hope of ever succeeding in seeing you again."

"And of course, when something gets too difficult, might as well kill yourself? Seems rational." He chuckled.

"Sh-shut up!" The girl snapped. "You have no idea!"

"And I don't really care either." He kept a cocky smile on his lips, showing his supremacy over her. "Well, I suppose I could always use cheap labor. A servant can often come in useful when you least expect it."

"S-so you're letting me join you?"

"Eh, what harm could it really do? But you're serving _me_ not the people I work for. You're _my _little secret. And you're one of _my_ agents. You don't do what anybody else commands unless _I_ tell you to. You got that girl?"

"Y-Yes sir!" She stuttered.

* * *

All in all, it had really worked out for him. He changed his look, which only made the girl love him even more, and she was even useful sometimes. Not often, but just often enough to make it worth his while. As it turned out, she was a nature alchemist. Now that was a title to hide. A wood shaper. She could only utilize her alchemy when there were plants, or plant materials nearby, she was nearly useless inside of a city.

And so far, she'd proven herself useless outside of one as well. He'd delegated four missions for her to undertake, and she'd been unable to succeed in a single one by herself. She had never actually failed any of them though, otherwise, he'd probably just would have killed her. As if was, she was still useful as a place to take his frustrations out on.

He took a step toward her and balled his fist, driving it into her stomach with as much force as he could muster. The girl flew back and slammed her head against a tree. A thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her lips, as well as a small gash on her temple from her graze with the tree.

"Get up you dumbass." He spat, kicking her in the ribcage to motivate her. It wasn't very effective at making her stand up any faster, if anything, it only preventing her from rising as swift.

She did manage to get her feet under her and stand, it took her more attempts than she anticipated, but she finally to do it. Swaying on her feet, she looked Envy dead on.

A big mistake. Envy balled his hand into a fist again and slammed it against her cheek. She felt her teeth dig into the meaty flesh of her cheek as she went flying back and bent her back against one of the trees. There was a sickening crunch, whether from the tree or her body she was unsure of, but it did not sound pleasant either scenario. And her back did hurt. She was gonna wager that the noise came from her back.

It took her another few moments to regain her feet again, during which Envy swiftly lost his temper once again. He grabbed her by her hair just as she pushed up onto her hands and knees. He yanked her up to her feet and shoved her into the tree again, pressing the blade of his hand sharp into her windpipe.

She felt the constriction, but didn't realize the full implications until she attempted to heave a breathe. Right as she was about to, he pressed his fingers closer together and sealed off her airways. She gasped like a fish for a moment before beginning to struggle. She was okay if he decided to kill her, but her instincts were kicking in trying to preserve her body. Her fingers curled around the arm and she attempted in vain to move it away.

His arm was like a steel bar. She couldn't manage to cause a single muscle to flinch in the slightest. Although only being strangled for a few seconds, she was low on air anyway because of his earlier hits, it was too much happening too quickly. Only a few seconds into it and she was already turning red.

Envy grinned down at the struggling woman and began applying pressure vertically, lifting, pressing her hard against the tree and separating her by several inches from the ground.

Her vision was blurring, tears spilling over her eyelids as her lungs screamed for relief. She could feel her extremities begin to shut down, her fingers tingling, wrists weakening. Her knees trembled and shook, she could feel her control slipping.

The edges of her vision began to darken and dots danced across her eyes. She felt the pain and humiliation when her control over her bladder slipped, felt the warmth as it slid down her legs.

"Disgusting," Envy spat in her face before casting her aside like a piece of trash. "Clean up, we're leaving in ten minutes. Don't think I won't kill you and leave you behind when I go. Actually, that's false. I would never leave you behind, I'd probably kill you before I left. So clean up and be ready in ten minutes, or else I'll kill you. Tear out your innards through your nose, let you taste what your innards are made up, feed them to you. Oh by the way, you've already lost a minute."

The girl leapt to it.

* * *

She was done in five, although she was still wet from her dip in the river. At least she was cleaner, and didn't smell nearly so bad anymore either. At least she had gotten the smell of ammonia off of herself. She couldn't believe that she had actually just wet herself in front of him. It was pathetic, and disgusting, and humiliating, and kind of arousing as well. She hated that last detail, but it was Envy after all, and he'd just forced her to do one of the most intimate things imaginable. She found herself beginning to become wet down there again, and not from urine or her bath in the river this time.

"Come along girl. We've no time to lose." Envy began walking away.

"Um, m-master, Envy sir? Wh-where are we going?" Her words came out corrupted by the open wound in her mouth and laced with the pain of speaking, the agony coursing her body. She loved every iota of pain, she lived for it, all because it was caused by _him_. He had made her hurt and she loved him for it.

"We're going to meet with some old friends." He grinned when he thought of the remaining Black Hand members.

"Old friends?"

"And kill them." His fist clenched in anticipation.

"Oh, those kind of friends." It seemed like Envy had more of those than any other type of associate. not that it was her place to judge him. "Okay, where do I fit into these plans sir?"

"Wherever the hell I want you to." He walked off.

"Yes of course! I had... only hoped to know in adva-" She tried to explain her reasoning, so she could prepare herself for her role, but he was having none of it. Her voice cut off when his fingers laced about her windpipe again.

He laughed in her face. "You only hoped to know? Screw that! I don't care about what you want, or hope! You'll do whatever I damn well tell you to."

"Y-yesss ssir!" She croaked out through the small gap still remaining for her air.

"Good, it's a fine thing when a whore knows her master. Let's move out." He threw her to the ground face first.

She almost appeared to bounce back up from the hit. She was back on her feet in no time at all and following happily after him almost like a puppy. It actually sickened Envy how peppy she was, but when fate handed a halfway decent tool to you for nothing, well, you just don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Sure, she was a pretty dull blade, but with the proper refinement, she might not be the worst thing ever.

Now he just needed to find where the other four had gotten to before they were actually able to kill them, but he'd already taken out the ones who were actually dangerous. The three dangerous ones, the explosive leader, the creep with the ice, and the girl with the multicolored hair, they were already dead and buried, corpses being digested by the maggots already. The remaining four were nothing. The pistol girl was weak compared to the might of her boyfriend, the lightning guy was accurate but neither powerful nor as intelligent as the other men, and the brunette was just a backward character anyway, in the story of their group she barely existed.

And Rizu. Of course she had to be there. Not that he cared all that much about her, but she had interested him enough that he'd rather she not be harmed. Plus, she was the child of the late great Roy Mustang, he had been a powerhouse in his time and he was interested in seeing what she would be capable of. Clearly that was his only interest in her.

Luckily for him, she was new to the team, not quite yet developed into her loyalties to the team, hell, maybe he could even figure out a way to convert her to his cause. It probably wouldn't even be that hard, she was clearly enamored with him.

He grinned. Well that settled that. He'd simply break the girl and make her join his command, kill the others, and go about his business. She was weak after all, he wasn't.

He had a feeling that her soft flesh would feel amazing when he dominated her.

* * *

**Sorry everybody, but my cpu crapped out on, the charger broke out on me. It took 2 weeks longer than the estimation I received at the start for me to actually receive the equipment. But now I'm back in business and with a fury. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Alright everybody, here it is, the chapter a lot of you have been waiting for. Lemons! Unfortunately, not even this is working to cure my depressive mood.**

* * *

Envy thrust himself into the girl writhing below him. A cruel sick grin spread across his face as he violated her so brutally. He took as he desired, not caring in the slightest about her discomfort. She rolled and squirmed below him in agony, feeling nothing but pain as he had his way with her. Still however, it was Envy, Pelleas, the man who had haunted her dreams for how long? She loved him, and this was what he wanted. She would accept this, and so much more than still.

Envy continued to thrust, drawing himself further and further into a frenzy. He contemplated changing his form to fill her even more completely, but dropped the idea. Hell, he might kill her at that point.

Her eyes filled with tears. She could feel blood flow down her legs and pool on the ground beneath her hips. She would be destroyed by this, never the same. She didn't care though. It was for her love Envy.

Envy leaned in and whispered in her ear. "This is getting boring." That was the only warning she received before he thrust deeper. Her skin and muscle tore steadily as he applied more pressure. Blood oozed, oddly acting as a lubricant to allow him to go further and deeper than before, destroying her even more completely.

The pain grew and grew, blossoming in bright pulses behind her eyes. It wasn't long before she could no longer handle it and she blacked out.

With the girl passed out, the action lost nearly all of its entertainment value. He pulled his arm back out of her torso through the gaping hole in her stomach. Slowly, ever so slowly, he drew him arm back out, feeling the squirming viscera as he pulled out. So far she'd proven herself more valuable to him as a plaything than any talent she had as an alchemist.

She certainly had less to offer than most of his agents, the only detail she'd offered that made her better than the others was the simple fact that she had _volunteered_ to serve him.

He quickly wrote a note and laid it by the gaping hole in her torso, giving her the rest of the day off. "Stupid bitch!" He muttered. With Aceline knocked out, the day was just so much more boring. He sighed. Surely there was something else that he could use to entertain himself.

* * *

Rizu was off in the market, hidden behind the same black half mask Canas had given her when she joined the group's ranks. She had also donned a black cloak, pulling the hood up to hang over her face. She wasn't trying to be hidden exactly, but rather trying to hide by being visible. She may not have been a part of the Black Hand for very long, but she had learned quickly during her short time. Ayako was a great teacher, even if only through example, or through his death.

She wandered through the market, always headed toward her destinations. The list Megumi had given her earlier filled with items she slowly checked off as she wandered around. She avoided heading directly to any of the stores or stalls, knowing that to be the swiftest way to gain attention.

She meandered her way through the market, stopping at several extra locations for every one she actually needed to go to. As such, it took her several hours.

As she neared the end of the list, she began to hurry about faster and faster. With only one last item to grab, she hurried to find a store selling dry ice. She was both hesitant, and excited to learn what Megumi planned with it. Saltpeter, sugar, chlorine, sulfur, oil of vitriol, vodka, dry ice, zinc, charcoal, candles, potatoes, oleum, it seemed a mad chemist's wet dream. Luckily, although she couldn't be recognized as Major Rizu, she could still be recognized as a state alchemist. Using her silver watch, she was easily able to smooth over any interest the storekeepers might have in her purchases. Alchemists bought some weird things sometimes, and most of what she bought was pretty safe.

Her rush to finish was halted abruptly by her slamming into somebody, bouncing off of a powerful torso and only just barely managing to curl her arms around the parcels and keep them from breaking open. She was just about to lash out in anger at the man when he spoke up.

"We really have to stop meeting like this." A chuckle followed the statement. "Are you alright?"

This was the moment of truth for Envy. He had taken a huge risk by tailing her into the marketplace. It was a stupid idea and he knew it, but he just wanted to talk with her again. During the pain of that whore blasting him with fire, he may well have slipped into using another voice, namely, the one he used with Pelleas. If he had, then the jig was up. She may have been stupid, but not even she was reliably that stupid.

"Oh jeez I'm sorr-" Rizu stopped midsentence. "Oh my god! Pelleas! I'm so sorry again!" She then noticed that he had recognized her with no issue. A glance to the ground revealed that running into him had knocked the bandanna loose from covering her face. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Would you believe that I was actually looking for you?" Pelleas responded with a grin. _She really was that stupid! Or he was just that lucky._

"Me? Why would you be looking for me?" Rizu questioned, not seeing any reason for his interest.

"Because I find it to be my life's desires to follow after beautiful women."

Rizu blushed, stunned into a temporary silence by his compliment. "Y-you think I'm beautiful?" She stumbled over her words insecurely. This was somebody who didn't honor her because of her father's fame, Pelleas liked her for being her. She'd been told that she was beautiful before, but the vast majority of the time that had been contemporaries of her father's, or old friends with no chance of anything happening. Everybody was either too old or too intimidated by her position.

"Of course I do." Pelleas chuckled, reaching down to offer his hand to give her aid in regaining her feet. He lifted her easily up, thanks to the great amount of strength given to him by his status as a homunculus, he was even able to lift her clear off of the ground, crushing her against himself. "After all, you are incredibly beautiful."

Rizu listened to his words, but she was hearing her heart beat. She did not want to live with regrets like Megumi. She saw an opportunity she wanted, and now she wanted to take it before she missed it. "W-well now you've found me." She winked in what she hoped was a seductive way. "Now what are you going to do with me?"

"Hmm." Envy purred deep in his throat. "Well there's the question isn't it? I think more the question should be, what have you earned from me?" He chuckled. "You've run into me twice already, and you ran out on me during dinner. I think you've earned some pretty hefty punishment."

"Hold up for a minute Pelleas, I just have to make one more purchase, then I'm free for the rest of the day." Rizu giggled. She was a little curious as to what he meant when he said punishment, although she could think of several meanings he might have had. She couldn't think of anything he might do that she wouldn't enjoy. "Unless of course, you choose to fulfill that threat?" She giggled again with another wink.

"Let's finish your duties, and then I can get to mine." His wicked grin gave her hope that he was thinking along the same lines that she was. When he pinched her rear, she knew he was for a fact.

She hurried along on her way, trying to finish her chores in only a few more moments. Of course, the last ingredient she still needed to pick up just happened to be liquid nitrogen, both the most important and hardest to obtain. She was forced to wait nearly half an hour before they allowed her to exit with a small container of about two hundred milliliters. It wasn't much, but they wouldn't sell any more than that at once, even to alchemists. It was simply too risky. Hopefully it would be enough to fulfill Megumi's purposes, whatever they were.

With all of the materials gathered, she walked back out to Pelleas. "Everything finished up?" He asked with a sardonic grin.

"Of course." She grinned back, putting her hands onto his chest with a smile. It seemed like she just couldn't stop smiling when she was around him. She thought that she was in love with Pelleas. She felt confident enough in her feelings that she wanted to move on them. She refused to be Megumi, living with any sort of regret.

Envy allowed himself to be pulled along behind her as she raced to a nearby hotel. Well, nobody could ever fault her for being slow to act. Hell, had he ever even told her a last name? Or was he just Pelleas to her? And now they were going to f*ck? Well, in her defense, at least it wasn't the first date.

Rizu dragged him into one of the rooms, and it was a few moments while he made a decision. Namely, which among them would be dominant during this. Whichever way they went about it, it was certain to be at least diverting, but he never was one to allow somebody else to take control. So, as soon as she closed the door after entering the room, he grabbed her shoulder and gave her a shove toward the bed. He followed closely behind her. Most of the time, he hated working for his associates, Father and now this new group, but times like now he found the experience to be, even maybe enjoyable.

At least, this one certainly would be. Too bad situations like this didn't come around as often as they should. Some things just weren't fair. After all, Lust's opportunities to f*ck came so much more often, and she didn't have any sort of connection with her marks. He'd been after this Rizu Mustang for a long time now.

Rizu was surprised by his aggressiveness, but not subdued by it. "Time for that punishment you promised me earlier?" She put on a wicked smile.

Envy grinned. "You're going to be sore in the morning." He chuckled, matching her grin. "Now strip." He commanded, authority ringing through his tone.

At first, Rizu was taken aback by his domineering. Only a second of that however, before his commanding attitude only served to arouse her. She wasn't exactly wearing the best outfit for a sexy strip tease, nor was she exactly experienced at it. The ramifications of that thought burst upon her. She was still a virgin and now she was going to f*ck a near-total stranger. Well, an incredibly sexy stranger, but-

_No!_ She was not going to talk herself out of this. She was _not_ going to have a life with regrets. She was not going to be like Megumi!

After her mental struggle, it was a few moments longer before she could look up from her position on the bed. Luckily, it seemed that Pelleas didn't mind. He looked to just be letting his eyes roam her body. She was a specimen under his microscope, and he was examining her quite critically. She blushed under the attention, hoping he was at least finding her appealing under all the thick layers she'd used to obliterate her features earlier. Now it seemed a silly precaution.

It was true, Envy didn't mind the extra few moments to examine her. Plus, the longer he spent with her, the longer it would be until they sent him on another stupid mission, probably with much less entertaining prospects. Although the last one, slaughtering the other members of Rizu's group, had certainly played right to his fancies.

When Rizu finally began to move again, it played to his fancies once more. She started with her mask, running it up along her head and simultaneously pulling the cloak's hood down around her shoulder. From there, to the clasp at her clavicle, quickly snapped open to allow the heavy cloak to fall down off of the bed. Underneath the cloak was more of the same, heavy, form-obliterating black and grey clothing several sizes too large for her. The dark grey shirt had buttons down the front of it, which she began to undo from the bottom up. She reached to just below her breasts, still high enough that the swell of her bust was obvious, before she stopped.

Rizu was already breathing heavy, and she wasn't doing anything physical enough to warrant such. She was more aroused than she'd ever been before in her life. And she was still mostly full dressed.

Next came the large, heavy leather belt that was the only reason the massive dark grey pants were still up around her hips. As soon as she released the strap, the pants immediately loosened and fell to pool around her, hanging off of her. She slipped to the edge of the bed, hanging her legs off of it and kicking each leg out in turn to loosen the pants. Then she thrust her hips up, but before she could make a move to grab at her pants, Pelleas moved forward and slid them all the way down in a single motion. The move caused her panties to slide as well, slipping awkwardly down her thighs. Only a few inches, but she knew that it was exposing a lot more of her than she planned.

She flushed crimson, and then nearly smacked herself for her foolishness. She was going to have sex with him and she was embarrassed that her ass was bare? A whole lot more of her was going to be bared in a few more moments. She blushed deeper at that thought. She couldn't help it!

Envy didn't think much of it. Was she foolish? Yes. But there were a thousand things in this situation that showed her to be much more foolish than her silly blush. Plus, he thought it was kind of endearing. For a stupid human after all.

She turned to unbuttoning her top once again, finally releasing the full glory of her bosom. She was incredibly well endowed, with a full woman's assets despite her smaller frame. She was a match for Megumi, despite being almost a foot shorter than her. Now, with them only hidden behind the sheer veil of silk, they warranted nearly all of Pelleas's attention, a detail she was quite glad about. A few more motions and she was fully naked, sitting awkwardly in front of him.

Envy took a few moments to simply stare at her. She had a very appealing body. Tight and trim. She was athletic, as he'd expected, but not quite so much as the others of her group. She certainly had more curves than his minion. Rizu was probably the bustiest on her team, despite being limited vertically. He meant to intimidate her with his stare, own her before ever laying a hand on her body. With her naked and nearly begging for him to do glorious things to her while he was still fully dressed, it had already pretty much happened. After an enjoyable scanning of her body, he focused his gaze onto each of her mounds for a full minute, keeping her locked in place with his eyes. Then his eyes drifted lower and she burst into motion, her hands flying to try and cover her shame.

He didn't say anything, simply kept the powerful stare and cocked an eyebrow at her. It took Rizu a few long seconds, but she eventually pulled her arms back, still blushing furiously hard. It was then she realized just how much control he had over her. And she loved it. She couldn't think of anything that she wouldn't do for him, most especially now. Her thighs were a slick testament to how much she wanted him right now.

He smiled wickedly before reaching to his own collar. It didn't take him very long to arrive at full nudity as well. Rizu was glad to see that he appeared to be just as aroused as she herself was. Rizu gave him the same once-over that he'd only just used on her. She was very appreciative of his assets, well _asset_, as well.

He moved forward, leaning down and planting a soft kiss at the juncture of her neck. It changed into his scrapping teeth over her jugular in no time at all. Rizu let out a soft moan of passion, before twisting her head around to lock her lips against his.

Pelleas was an eager participant, his mouth hotly engaged with hers. His right hand twisted through her hair, locking it through his fingers and keeping her head firmly in place. He was in total command. She was greatly appreciative of that. She was inexperienced after all. His other hand reached down between her thighs, sliding over the slick flesh in a torturously slow circle he repeated time and again. She squirmed beneath his finger's ministrations, gasping when he teased her open.

Envy's eyes popped when he did. It wasn't far before he encountered a block. She was a f*cking virgin! He just couldn't- she didn't even know who he was! She was more a slut than Lust was. He rubbed his fingers around some more, causing her to cry out into his mouth.

He moved his lips down her bust, twisting his tongue agilely around and over her nipples. Her cries were unrestrained this time, being lost into the wooden walls.

Rizu tried to beg him to just take her, but her breath was lost to her. Luckily, it seemed like Pelleas was well attuned to her body and her desires already. He pushed her onto her back, leaning back and giving her swat across her breast. "A glutton for punishment right?" He laughed.

She could only respond with a whimpering gasp.

"I'll take that as a yes." He purred. He gripped her from behind the knees and lifted her legs up beside her head. She was trapped beneath his power, and what was more, he knew she was loving it. He leaned down, just a few scant inches above her sex. "It's very pretty you know."

"Don't s-say things like that!" She went crimson. Her blush deepened when he licked along her. "Oh god!" She moaned. He burrowed into her with his tongue. She cried out in pleasure once again. She lost her voice once more. He seemed to be quite talented at doing that. His tongue wriggled into her. _Oh god! It's so big!_

Her mind went blank. She stared straight up at the ceiling, her face just ask blank as her mind. Envy was tempted to laugh but figured it would be in bad taste considering their current activity. _Well, _he supposed, _time to get mine. _He pushed himself up and lined himself up against her.

Rizu flinched when she realized what was coming up next. Wasn't the first time supposed to hurt? Tearing her hymen? She bit her lower lip, anticipating a piercing pain. He thrust up against her hard, penetrating her fully in one movement. She gaped at the sensation, not pain, well not only pain. Instead was a glorious filling sensation that forced the air from her, she wasn't even aware she had any breath left in her. It felt like he was thrusting himself through her entire body, not only just her sex. It was fantastic. She was nearly crying with how amazing it felt.

Envy took her hard. He abused her like the slut she was. God, she was tight, he could feel the blood from her tearing. A f*cking virgin f*cking some guy she barely knew because he happened to look desirable. As if he were going to take a form that was ugly.

Rizu cried out in pleasure, clamping herself tightly around him. God it felt amazing! He thrust a few more times before his own orgasm. Then he threw himself aside and laid on the bed next to her. "Th-that was amazing." She panted. He didn't even look winded from that. She slowly allowed her legs to fall back onto the bed, her thighs a little sore from his lifting them above her head.

"Not half bad yourself." He replied. Rizu looked hurt for a moment before he laughed and said, "I'm kidding."

"I s-suppose I shouldn't stay out all night."

"Oh?"

"Megumi's probably wondering where I am."

_Megumi! _Envy's thoughts were spoiled by the mention of the fire head. _F*cking bitch! Burning my beautiful face!_

Rizu sensed his foul mood, but thought that it was because she had decided to leave. She did feel a little bad about it, but she wasn't exactly trying to form a real long lasting relationship. She couldn't exactly ask him to become involved with everything she was doing. Look at what happened to her other friends involved with this. Canas, Umiko, Ayako, they were all dead and gone.

She felt tears well up in her eyes, but she refused to cry, not here, not in front of Pelleas. She needed to stop thinking about them. "Look, I don't know if we'll be able to do this again. But," She hesitated. "I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to do it." She started to stand up. "I hope you're not mad."

"Don't worry about it." Envy said, his seductive voice rolling pleasantly across her ears. "We'll met again. Now it's my turn to make that a promise to you."

Rizu giggled as she began to pull her clothes back on. When she bent down to grab up her clothes, Pelleas reached over and smacked her hard on the rear, a quick swat that made her jump and nearly tip over. "Hey!" She shouted in mock anger. Then she shook her ass at him, enticing yet another slap that she eagerly accepted.

When she was fully dressed again, she picked up all of her the result of her shopping spree before her encounter with Pelleas. Luckily, the room Megumi had secured was in the same building. Now if only she could remember what the room number was before her exhaustion caused her to fall to the ground. He'd really done a number on her, her eyes were only barely able to stay open as she fought to stay awake. Luckily, Megumi wouldn't say much, just a few questions about how the day had gone, and then Rizu could go right to sleep.

When she opened the door, Megumi nearly shouted at her. "So who's the lucky stallion?" Her smile was immediately infectious, making Rizu break out into a grin as well.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Rizu blushed.

Megumi didn't even bother answering. She just cocked an eyebrow and waited.

It didn't take long. RIzu broke down in just a few more moments, giggling helplessly. "His name's Pelleas."

"The dude who looks more like a chick than me? From the nightclub?" Megumi smiled. "Is that the one? Never knew you had a thing for girls."

"I don't!" Rizu was flushed bright red.

"Then why him?"

"Trust me, he's certainly male." Her blush deepened.

"Oh you didn't!" Megumi slapped the other girl on her shoulder. "You little slut!" She giggled playfully.

Rizu only went into a darker shade. It was several long minutes before she was able to respond. "How do you even-"

Megumi broke into her statement. "Oh come on!" She sighed. "You come in here, carrying all of the supplies, three hours after you told me to expect you. You're glowing. You're still flushed with lust. You forgot your cloak." She leaned forward, making an obvious glance down to the other girl's crotch. "Plus you're wet enough to be showing through your pants." A total lie, but it embarrassed Rizu enough to be forced to turn away.

Rizu tried to respond, but her embarrassment was enough that she was barely able to respond. All she could manage was, "Sh-shut up!"

"Give me the stuff." Megumi sat at the table. "Was he a good lay?"

Rizu almost dropped all of the ingredients as she headed over to the other woman. "What!" She blurted out. _H-had Megumi just asked her that?_

"C'mon then. Spill! Was he good? Bad? Did he hurt you?" Megumi grinned ever wider each time Rizu flushed more crimson. "Give me the details. Let's gossip like normal women for once."

"I'm not sure this is what normal women talk about." Rizu said uncertainly as she placed bag after bag onto the table in front of Megumi. "More like, perverted women."

"Whatever."

Megumi broke the ingredients up into three separate piles, talking the whole while with Rizu. Each pearl of information she plucked from Rizu was another gem she could use to humiliate her later. Megumi enjoyed being dominant around others. Everything she drew from Rizu's well of secrets was just another thing she could use to get her desired response from the smaller woman.

Plus, talking about something so harmless and fun kept her mind from straying to her memories of Ayako. She couldn't think anymore of that or she wouldn't be able to keep from crying.

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**Don't forget to read and review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Alright, I know it's been a while, but some stuff happened between me and the commissioner of this story, so I just kinda lost interest, but y'all still wanna know what happens, and so I'll keep writing. At least, I think you're all still interested. Without getting anybody to say anything, it's a little hard to tell savvy? More reviews- more obvious how much people want to read this.**

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Rizu awoke with a start. It had sounded like an explosion had been set off next to her ear. "What the hell was that?" She shouted at Megumi, whom she thought was laying right next to her. She was wrong

Megumi was in the main room of their apartments, where she had left the ingredients she'd had Rizu buy the prior day. A plume of smoke wrapped around her head. The smell was acrid, a sour almost taste that she had to wade through to approach the other girl. "What are you doing in here?" She asked, still glowing with pleasure from the prior evening.

"I'm preparing. Since y'know, we're going to have to fight against the entire country soon." Megumi laid a hand on the other girl's shoulder.

Rizu looked down at the hand, suddenly cold. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"They killed our teammates Rizu." A tear formed in her eye but she wouldn't let it fall. "They killed the Fuhrer. There's only one reason why they would take us out in the first place. Somebody high up the chain of command, high enough to know of our existence- which means very high up- decided that they wanted to take over the country. And guess who stands in their way?"

"Does this mean we're technically terrorists now?"

"Technically? There's nothing technical about it." Megumi laughed at her innocence. That would last about as well as her innocence with Pelleas. "If you do this, you're going to be a terrorist. I _have_ to do this. This is what Ayako would want, I know it. I have to do this in his memory. But you have no stakes in this. You barely know any of us, and barely anybody knows that you're a part of us. You can still get away clean, nobody will know anything of your involvement. They aren't going to rest until the rest of us are dead."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they know that we were with the Fuhrer, that's why they're trying to pin this all on his Black Hand. And of the Black Hand, they know about me, Ayako, Canas, Umiko, Shinon, Mist, they know who we are. But not you. You're still anonymous."

She was right, Rizu realized. I could do near anything, and nobody but the Black Hand would realize. And all I'd have to do...

Was betray Megumi.

Abandon her like Shinon and Mist had done. Leave her as if she meant nothing. As if the entire group had meant nothing. Even if she'd only been with them for a few weeks, they were still her friends. And even if she could no longer use the name, she was a Mustang. Mustangs didn't abandon friends. She was loyal, just like her mother, honest, just like her father.

Megumi put the container of liquid nitrogen and the dry ice into the center of a transmutation circle. "Whichever your choice, be very quiet for a few minutes while I do this." Then she placed her hands to either side and transmuted the raw materials. They turned into some sort of whitish powder at first.

"What are y-"

"Quiet." Megumi was whispering. "This is highly volatile, if you can't wait, please leave."

Rizu didn't want to be kicked out, so she shut up. What kind of stuff was she making where simply speaking too loud could set it off? Well, she'd surely find out soon enough. Clearly, being in a relationship with Ayako had given Megumi some experience with explosives.

Rizu was sure if that information should make her happy, or disturbed.

After finishing her transmutation, Megumi slid the powder, in tiny, oh so tiny increments, to the now pristine container that had held the liquid nitrogen. A few grams at a time, the pile slowly disappeared. Whatever it was, the Hell-Fire Alchemist was certainly being careful. And honestly, that frightened Rizu. To think that she was doing something that the normally carefree Megumi was now being so careful with. Clearly, losing Ayako had hit her pretty hard.

Rizu waited until the lid was shut on the container before she spoke. "So what is it?"

"Octanitrocubane." Came the one word response.

"Octo-who now?"

"Octanitrocubane." Megumi repeated just as easily. "Currently, it's the most powerful explosive known to mankind. Theoretically. Ayako was telling me about it a while back. It's only been tested in incredibly minute amounts, like single grams."

"But what you have there is an incredible amount!"

"Ocranitrocubane is worth more than gold. Especially since alchemy is literally the only feasibly way to create it so far." She put the container delicately on top of the table. "And even alchemy is a touchy method to make it. After all, almost nobody even knows that it exists. Because technically it doesn't. Ayako theorized it with some of his old colleagues but they never actually got around to making it. Theoretically, it should be the fastest explosive ever, and more powerful than any other."

"And you're what? Going to blow up Central?"

"I'm, um, I'm not really sure what I'll use it on."

"You built one of the most powerful bombs, in amounts enough to blow up, who knows how much of the city? And let me guess, you don't even know how much damage you could do? Level a city block? Two? The entire city?"

"I uh, don't really know."

"There wasn't much planning that went into this was there?"

"I have more than just the octanitro." Megumi sulked.

"What?"

"Well I only used the liquid nitrogen and dry ice for this. That still leaves me a lot of other ingredients." She ticked off the ingredients on her fingers. "The saltpeter, sugar, zinc, charcoal, candles, taters, sulfur, and chlorine are all for making a myriad of fireworks. The oleum, stong water, oil of vitriol, vodka, are for TNT. Distractions and support breaking." She pulled a blanket off of the couch.

And there were her prizes. Twenty red sticks with long fuses of dynamite and nearly fifty different breeds of fireworks.

"Wow, that's uh, that's quite an arsenal." Rizu really was starting to rethink this. Megumi was clearly mad with grief. Hell, she very well might be trying to die with this whole endeavor. "Plan on taking on the entire army? Or several of them? Like the entire country?"

"Whoever started this all up." Megumi was quiet. "I'm going to make sure to finish it. For us, and for the others."

Rizu sighed. "You might want a little more preparation than that."

"Why bother?" Megumi shrugged. "As you said, I might very well be going up against the entire country. What's one or two people supposed to do against that? Even if we had the entire group could we really do anything? The most we could really do is bloody their freaking nose. After all, they have an army. We have a barely trained girl and a pyromaniac." She sighed. "If Ayako were here, he'd know how to take them all on. And in his opinion, there was nothing that couldn't be overcome with the intelligent application of more explosives."

Rizu could see the tears in the other girl's eyes as she said this. She truly missed Ayako and there was nothing that could be done about it. Rizu missed them all, but there was nothing to do about that either.

All that was left for her was Megumi, and now, she guessed, Pelleas. Everybody else was gone now.

She still couldn't believe that Shinon and Mist had just up and walked out on Megumi. They were supposed to be friends right? How could they just have abandoned her? The entire premise of it had shocked her. It just wasn't conceivable to her to betray a friend. And then she realized that that's exactly what she had done. She'd betrayed Erik, and all of her other friends she'd made as Rizu Mustang.

"Wait a minute." She had an idea. "I have an idea."

For some reason, that filled Megumi with a sinking feeling. But it wasn't like she had much of a plan herself anyway. "What is it?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I still have friends from before joining this outfit." Rizu began. Already she could see that the idea wasn't going over well with Megumi, but she'd already broached the topic, might as well finish it. "Maybe we might be able to get some more help from them?"

"You have friends who will go traitor and fight the most powerful nation for you?" Megumi tried hard to contain her laughter to a mere smile.

"Well, no but-"

"Friends talented at terrorist activities?"

"Again, no, but-"

"Anybody with experience in the government that might narrow our search? Or in the military who might be able to actually help us plant explosives?"

"No-"

"Shoot a gun?"

"No."

"Swing a sword?"

"Maybe?"

"So your friends are going to be willing to sacrifice themselves for someone they no longer actually know, in a situation they have no experience with, in a situation they don't fully understand, all just for friendship?"

"Well, maybe. I mean, well, uh, well it can't be any worse than going in alone can it? I mean really, worst case scenario, what? They can't help us."

"No, best case scenario they can't help us." Megumi was quiet, hard, showing nothing. "That way they're still safe. Remember, we're traitors to the entire nation. Everybody we associate with can be considered an accessory, a fugitive if they actually help us. The worst case scenario is that they decide to play the vigilante, and either a, they actually manage to kill us, or b, we end up having to kill them. Trust me, b sucks. B sucks worse than anything else in existence."

"I know two of them that wouldn't betray us." She said, thinking back to some of the people she knew back as Rizu Mustang. After all, she couldn't believe for a moment that Erik could ever do anything to hurt her.

"You'd better be damn sure. This revenge is for Ayako." Her eyes hardened. "Because if you're wrong, I won't hesitate to kill them."

Rizu gulped and really thought about it. She was sure that Erik wouldn't hurt them, after all, before she'd left he'd had a crush on her. He probably still did. The only other person she could think of who might be willing and able to help them would be Pelleas. But did she really know him after all? They'd had one date, and then... last night... Could she really trust him based off of so little information? More than that though, was she willing to risk his life based on how little she knew about him? All she really knew was that his 'employers' had sent him here to 'watch over their assets.' That didn't mean that he would just help some girl. She thought he cared about her, but she didn't know. For all she knew, he was just a one night stand, and then she'd never see him again.

Still, they needed help. Anything had to be better than nothing right?

She took another deep breath before staring Megumi dead in the eyes and nodding. "Yeah, they'll help us."

"Okay, who are they, and how can we contact them?"

"The first is Eric, he's a fire alchemist too. He works at a restaurant here in Central, and the other is um...a guy I know." Her face was bright red in a blush. She was too embarrassed to continue.

"The one who nailed you?" Megumi had no such issues.

Rizu could only nod. She was blushing hard enough that it felt like her head was going to explode. She tried to speak again, but she was still too embarrassed for it. She made some sort of odd noise low in her throat.

"I'll take that as a yes. A great dick doesn't mean that he's able to help us. Or even willing." Megumi's eyes looked to the floor. "How well do you actually know him?"

"Well..." Rizu's gaze turned to the ceiling.

Megumi glared at the smaller girl. "Two things." She held up a finger. "First, you plan on trusting somebody you barely know with what very well could be a suicide mission?" A second finger joined the first. "And second, you actually slept with somebody like that? I hope you at least used protection." She shook her head in amazement.

Rizu's face now blanched.

Megumi laughed at the other girl. "I'm sorry, but damn girl. What's wrong with you? Have you at least known him for a while?" Rizu's head shook weakly. "You're either an idiot or a slut." Megumi was harsh about it. There was nowhere left in her for anything else. "That's not a bad thing. But it is dangerous. You could be pregnant right now, you could have caught something. And now you're going into what might even be considered a war. I don't think you've actual made the connection yet. This isn't the kind of stuff you know about. School never made a mention of this. You could die here, and more, you could be bringing a child's life into this. Are you sure you don't want to do what Shinon and Mist did? Bail out while things are good."

Rizu was already shaking her head before Megumi finished speaking. "I'm not going to abandon you." She still felt sick about her mistakes last night. "I've got to stick it out with you." She smiled. "Even if I've screwed everything up so far."

"That's a good point." Megumi rubbed a finger along her chin. "Maybe I'd be better off by myself."

Rizu just stared at her, jaw agape, as the impact of those words hit her.

"I'm joking!" She laughed. "Even if you screw everything up, I can still trust you." She turned more serious. "We can go and at least talk to Erik. But I'm not so sure about your lover boy. He might have fulfilled your needs, but this is a lot more dangerous. For all we know, he might just sell us out at his first opportunity."

Rizu grimaced. She refused to live like that. "Alright, we'll play it your way. Before any of that though." She took a deep breath. "What happened to you?"

Megumi's eyes widened. "What?"

"You heard me." Rizu was finally starting to figure things out. To think, yesterday she had been a student at the Academy, trying to use her father's alchemy, now she was one of the only surviving members of the Fuhrer's Black Hand, on the run from the entire country of Amestris. "What happened to you that made you so bitter? Enough that you refused Ayako's proposal?"

Megumi's eyes made contact with the ground. "That's none of your concern."

"No." Rizu grabbed Megumi's chin and forced their eyes to meet. "It is my concern. Just as your concern who I was with last night. We're in this together. We can't have secrets anymore."

Megumi slapped her. Rizu staggered back a step, holding a hand to her cheek.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you're getting way ahead of yourself there girl." Megumi said in a near growl. "You've been with us for what? An entire twenty-four hours? You're barely a part of the team." Her tone was harsh, but her point was true. "You don't have any right to make a demand like that of me! That's between me and Ayako only! Even Canas isn't privy to that information!"

Rizu took another step back. Megumi had slapped her? "What the hell's wrong with you!" She screamed at the other girl. "I'm trying to help you!"

"You don't need to know that in order to do your job!"

"I'm not trying to do my job!" Rizu's voice pitched even higher. "I was trying to help you, I was trying to be a friend!" She spun around and slammed the door. "But I guess that's just another thing you aren't ready for!"

"I don't ever want to see you again!" Megumi shouted as she threw a book at the girl's fast retreating form.

With Rizu gone, Megumi let out a sigh. That had taken a lot more than she thought it would. It hurt almost as much as it did when she learned that Ayako had been killed. Still, it had worked. Now Rizu hated her completely, which meant that she'd be safe. Megumi may not have much experience with friendship, actually none at all until she had joined the Black Hand, but she knew that you never took a friend into danger if you could avoid it.

Now it was just her against the world.

Rizu leaned against the wall outside of the hotel. She sighed. _What the hell was Megumi's problem? _Shouldn't she want all of the help she could get?

Sure, she wasn't amazing or anything, and she might have made a few mistakes in her time, but surely she could still be of use. But Megumi had slapped her! What the hell was that abuse for? All that had happened was that Rizu wanted to know a little more about Megumi's past. It couldn't really be that bad right?

"Fine!" She punched her fist into the wall. Immediately, she pulled her hand back, grimacing in pain. That had been a stupid move on her part. Whatever, now she and Megumi were even on the stupid move counter. "If you wanna go get yourself kil-" She stopped mid-sentence. Had he really been about to repeat Shinon's words at the girl? God, she couldn't really be that bad a person could she?

She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. Her eyes hurt like she was going to cry but she was working hard at avoiding that.

Well, she was out of a job now. She had nobody left to her right now. Eric thought she was dead, Megumi didn't want her, the rest of the team was either dead or disbanded. That only left...

But she didn't even know where he was. Or how to find him. She highly doubted that he was still in the hotel room they had shared last night. Usually when she found him, she literally ran into him somewhere. Like yesterday, and the first time they met. Oh god, was that really the entirety of how they knew each other?

Megumi was right, she was a slut. She banged her head back against the wall a few times. Maybe she could knock some sense into herself if she hit herself hard enough. Maybe...

She decided to go for a walk and pushed herself back to her feet. Maybe she'd get lucky and run into him again.

Wait, no, should she be hoping for that? Well, it wasn't like she could screw up Megumi's plan now could she? Hell, she didn't even know what Megumi was planning! Probably something suicidal anyway.

Rizu mentally berated herself, there she was going again, telling Megumi that she was just going to kill herself. What did she care anyway? Megumi was the one who slapped her, threw her out and yelled at her. Why should Rizu be feeling bad? She figured that she had nothing to be feeling bad about, so as she walked away, she decided to do everything in her power to forget about Megumi and the rest of the Black Hand.

Now resolute, she headed off intot he city. "I guess I need to find a new job don't I?" Maybe Eric could pull some strings or something.

She lifted her hand and summoned up her special alchemy, calling the heat and flames forth to alter the property of the water in the air, creating a flower made entirely out of ice. Well, at least she had that small bit of ability. Maybe she could work with Eric, make roses for people to give to their lovers or something? Or something romantic like that, Eric handles the kids, she handles the romance.

Now she just needed to figure out how to explain that she wasn't actually dead. That could end up with a really interesting lie there...

Her sigh echoed down the street.


	20. Chapter 20

**Well, I certainly don't like this new format thing for , but I guess I'll just have to get used it won't I? Because I don't plan on leaving my stories. However, I've been having a lot of issues lately, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to work right and stuff and stuff. Please, read & review, I love knowing that people enjoy this.**

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"So, yeah, sorry about the last time we met. But you see, I actually had to lie about who was I. I'm actually, well, I guess you could figure it out already couldn't you? But anyway, yeah, I'm not dead. Why'd I have to lie? Well you see, I incidentally joined a secret group of assassins and sneaks and this is just freaking ridiculous..."

Rizu sighed. "I'm sorry about lying, but you were right. I'm not dead."

She stopped after that one sentence. "God. This is just pathetic." She sighed and looked down at her father's gloves. She should have never joined this group. If she hadn't, maybe the group wouldn't have split up as it did, and then Ayako and the others wouldn't have gone to get themselves killed.

She could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. Not that anybody could blame her. She had screwed, pretty much everything up? Depression sucked. She sighed again.

She punched the wall again, and then immediately regretted it. She curled her other hand around the one she hit the wall with. Damn that hurt. "Shit!" She cursed. "Shit shit shit shit shit!" She was not having a good time of this.

Down the street she saw a vagrant digging through the garbage. The poor little girl was scrawny, obviously malnourished, and dressed only in a dirty shift. Seeing her, Rizu was saddened. The girl scavenged for a bit through the garbage before finding a piece of food, which she pulled out and turned to place on a relatively dry part of the alley. When she did, Rizu saw a glint from the girl's left arm. She had automail?

The girl looked up and down the alley quickly and saw Rizu looking at her. When their eyes met, Rizu was surprised at the bright cyan color of her irises. At that same moment, the sky, dark with heavy black clouds, broke open in a heavy deluge. The storm had been threatening since she left Megumi, but had halted for most of the day, why break now?

The girl had used the moment of surprise as Rizu looked up at the storm in order to flee down the street. For a moment, Rizu was tempted to chase her down, but then sighed again. She should get out the rain before her alchemy was completely ineffective.

"Wait a minute." She whispered as a thought came to her.

Her father, the late Fuhrer Roy Mustang, lost power in the rain. As a fire alchemist, that made sense. But Rizu couldn't use fire. She used ice. How that had happened, she still didn't know.

Maybe the rain would empower her?

She took a deep breath and focused. Never could get anywhere without experimentation. She pulled at the fire in her core and focused it down into her fingers, then snapped. The gloves, created for a fire alchemist, created a spark when the fingers were snapped. Unfortunately, as Rizu quickly learned, there was no spark created when the gloves were wet.

"That's just freaking great." She sighed. In the rain, she suddenly became worse than useless. Instead of when she could still use her alchemy, and she became only useless. She felt like her sighs had lost their meaning by this point.

She looked back up to the sky and sighed. Well, she wasn't going to get anywhere just standing around. She might as well just head back to the restaurant and see if Erik would put in a good word for her. Worst case scenario, they wouldn't hire her, and then she was in the same place she had been beforehand. A big nowhere important.

She started to head over to the restaurant and her stomach growled. Right, now of all times it decided to let her know that it was hungry? Well, it was just serving up into that kind of day.

She kept her head ducked under the rain. Maybe, even if he couldn't help her get a job, Erik could at least sneak her some food.

Joining the Black Hand had certainly gone downhill quickly, with her now being forced to beg for scraps. Another sigh escaped her lips. This whole deal had gone so sour, and it had seemed like such a good thing to begin with. Join a secret part of the military, do some real good in the country, serve the Fuhrer.

"That didn't work out all that well." She sighed again. Yeah, they had definitely lost their meaning.

She got down to a block away from the restaurant and stopped. She probably looked terrible. Hell, she probably looked like a vagrant like that other girl. Disheveled, dirty, her hair was messed up, makeup running, who the hell in their right mind would even think of hiring her? She sighed again and looked up at the sky, coming to a stop. Well, she could at least go and let him know she wasn't dead. Could also check to see if he could get her a meal.

She squared her shoulders and started toward the restaurant. She was as nervous now as she had been during her exam. Which was strange. After all, she'd lost all of her allies and was on her own, with her old lifestyle already destroyed.

A bright thought popped into her head with that. "I can have a last name again!" She burst into a stupid giggle randomly.

What the hell was wrong with her? A last name? She was really that excited about it? Sure, it was nice to be Rizu Mustang again, but people had _died!_ Ayako, Canas, Umiko, all gone. Shinon and Mist leaving the group. Megumi left on her own to do... whatever she was doing. The entire Black Hand was destroyed completely, but thank god she had a last name. She sighed again. Well, now she was feeling pretty guilty here. After everything that had happened, god, this, just everything wasn't going right.

She went to the restaurant. It was only mid-afternoon, so the restaurant shouldn't be busy. Hell, it might not even be open yet.

"I'm sorry... Ma'am." The man at the door sneered at her. "But we do not have a table available for you."

She knew that he meant that they would not allow her entry, not that there were no available tables. "Please, I don't want to come in, I just... I need to speak with Erik. He's one of the alchemists who works here. Please."

"I will go and see whether... Erik, will see you. What name should I give him?"

"Rizu. Just Rizu." She couldn't even think about using her full name right now.

"Wait here." He looked pointedly at her unkempt state and the mud she had dragged onto the fancy carpet extending out their door.

He was gone for a good fifteen minutes. She thought for a while that he hadn't even bothered telling Erik. He was just going to walk away and then come back to tell her that he didn't want to see her. Then she thought that he'd actually gone back and found Erik but then Erik had decided not to see her.

The door opened suddenly and she saw Erik rushing out. She smiled, turning to him, happy to see that he was willing to at least see her.

Then his open hand landed against her cheek. Her feet slipped in the mud she was tracking and she lost her balance, falling to the ground. The slap echoed in her ears for a few seconds.

From her position on the ground, she looked up at him.

Dressed in his suit, he looked good. Long, exotic, dark blue hair fell down in a roguish wave to his shoulder. Behind his usual pair of dark sunglasses, his sensitive, dark purple eyes gleamed with anger. Beneath the black suit, his body was tense.

He was pissed. Not that she thought he was wrong to be furious with her.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly. It was really pathetic honestly. After lying to him, she shows up out of nowhere, and just flat out apologizes to him? If she had been in his shoes, she'd probably give another slap, or worse.

Luckily, Erik was a much nicer person than she was. After that first slap, he came forward, squatted down, and wrapped her in a hug. "Come on, let's get you inside."

They walked passed the doorman from before. He sneered at her and she looked down at the floor. She could tell right away that he hated her. Chances of her getting a job here were unlikely, but maybe she could bum a meal. She followed Erik up the stairs to the fourth floor and into another room. Not a room for customers, this looked like a bedroom.

When Erik walked in and threw himself onto the bed lazily, she realized that it was. She blushed at the thought that came through her after that. _Did the restaurant serve their customers in more than one way? _Not that Erik wasn't attractive, she just wasn't expecting the restaurant to traffic in prostitution.

It was several long minutes before it occurred to Rizu that the restaurant might just be giving their employees a place to stay. She felt pretty stupid when that thought came through her mind.

Such a boring ending to what had been an exciting, and erotic, thought. She shook her head. What was wrong with her?

She finally has sex for the first time, and now all of her thoughts turned to the dirtiest things. She realized that she was blushing furiously. He probably knew the kinds of thoughts that were swimming around in her head. He always seemed like he was able to read her mind. She saw the little smile on his face, yep, shit, he knew. Or at least knew something about the direction her thoughts had traveled.

"What're you looking at?" She hid her face behind one of her hands. Then her stomach rumbled loudly. _Oh god! Could this get any more embarrassing?_

"So. Nice to see that you're not dead." Erik's eyes glistened with pain. Clearly he was still hurting from it. "And that I warrant enough of a presence from your past to get you to come here begging for scraps."

Rizu flushed again. "No, that's no-"

He pushed up and grabbed a little handle on the wall above the headboard. Inside of there was a little plate of food, which he handed over to her. "Here, breakfast." She couldn't even tell what emotions were passing through his voice anymore. He just seemed angry. But he _was_ feeding her. So there was that. He had to actually care right?

Was she over-analyzing this? Probably. Was she right? Maybe. Maybe not. God, why was she going crazy over this? She'd barely given any thought to it before sleeping with Pelleas, and she didn't know him very well, she'd known Erik forever.

Poor Erik. She was so messing everything up with him right now.

She took the meal from his hands and picked up a piece of the meat. As expected from somebody who lived above a restaurant, the meal was exquisite. The first piece melted deliciously into her mouth as if it were the finest chocolate. But a thousand times better than any chocolate she'd ever had before. Better than any meal she'd ever eaten here before too. Because she was hungrier than usual? Starving even? She wanted to say she was starving, it might be a little melodramatic, but she certainly felt like she satisfied the requirements to use that word. She could be wrong though.

She inhaled sharply after finishing the meal and then began to tell Erik, well everything. It probably wasn't such a great idea, considering how secretive the Black Hand had been during the short time she'd been a part of them. She trusted him though, and didn't think he'd betray her.

She just needed to tell _somebody_ and he was here, and deserved an explanation.

He listened quietly, patiently as she spoke, and just continued speaking. She took one break during her monologue to take a sip of some water. Other than that, she went from the last time that she had seen him, right up to her walking to the doors of the restaurant.

Erik waited several long minutes, letting Rizu stew in fear as he thought about her revelations.

Rizu's thoughts immediately turned to the worst possible scenarios. _He was mad, and now he's gonna throw me out. He's gonna turn me into the new Fuhrer._

"Well, at least you're still alive." He said with a heavy sigh.

Rizu's eyes immediately filled with tears, and she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. Erik was surprised, but after the initial hug, hugged her back just as tight. "I missed you." She whispered.

He rubbed his hand on her head and smiled. Yeah, he'd missed her too. "So why are you here now?"

"Honestly?" Rizu grinned, looking down at the ground. "I was hoping to either get a meal or a job off of you..."

Erik laughed heartily. "Well, you've already got the meal, but I don't know about the job. I mean, maybe, I can see, but people like fire as the entertainment. And you're sure that you can't do anything like that?" When she shook her head, he continued. "I can talk with my boss, people like ice sculptures right?"

She shrugged helplessly.

"At least you're fed. I'm sorry about what happened to them." He said softly as he walked out of the room. "I'll go see about a job."

Rizu sat in the room, thinking about Ayako and the other fallen members of the group. Envy had killed them... For what? They hadn't been hunting him or anything. Well, they had split up so the three of them could go hunt down the homunculi. And Umiko had been particularly willing to execute them all, over and over again. She really couldn't blame him, them, for attacking Ayako and them preemptively. Wasn't that what they had been doing?

Her eyes filled with tears as she thought back to them. Ayako, the solid, placid leader, using explosions, but somehow so dissimilar to his art. Canas, so knowledgeable, so calm, he'd lost an arm to protect Rizu. Umiko, crazy, with crazier hair, but sweet and friendly too.

All gone. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Ayako or Canas whose face haunted her. It the smiling face of Umiko. Strangest of all, almost everything she knew about Umiko was how violent the girl was. But that wasn't the face she saw.

Sweet, innocent, a gentle smile on her slightly tanned face. Her eyes shone softly, like molten gold, glistening like they were on the verge of crying. Nothing like how Rizu had seen them at first, hungry like a predator's. A few loose strands of her hair fell down over her forehead, having broken free of her braids. They were actually pretty long.

Rizu's eyes snapped open. Her breathes came heavily, each one a struggle. It was like she was suffocating, but that couldn't be right. No, she was just distressed. Yeah, that was it.

She took a single, long, slow, deep breath. Already she could feel things getting easier. She couldn't remember a time when she was like this, except when her parents had died. But even then, she'd kinda been expecting it with them. But with the Black Hand...

She stopped thinking before she started crying again.

In order to take her mind off of them, she started cataloging the items in Erik's room. There was more than one would think, but not as much as the plushness of the rest of the restaurant would suggest. Compared to all of that, he was living like a beggar.

A large mattress, enough to fit a half-dozen people easily, but still rather simple despite its size. An armoire with gold filigree on its face, to hold all of his suits or whatever he wore at work. Other than that there was just a plain oaken desk, and a bookshelf. It was all well-made, surely expensive, but it looked spartan compared to the rest of the posh restaurant. She smiled, it was so like Erik though. _At least he had a good view_, she thought as she looked out the window. So high up in the restaurant, she thought she could even see the desert in the far distance. It was silly to think so, she knew that she couldn't even see East City.

With the city spread out below her, with glass and metal structures towering into the sky, with the rain falling down onto the pinnacle of humanity's creation, she could almost picture everything being perfect. Almost as if nothing had really gone wrong.

She allowed herself to think in that way for a while, enjoying the idea that her world was still okay, people still alive.

Then Erik came back and she was brought back to reality.


End file.
